China’s ambition to annex Taiwan is based on a desire to change the rules-based international order, rather than a desire for territorial gains, President William Lai (賴清德) said in an interview.
During an appearance on the talk show The View With Catherine Chang, aired last night, Lai said China aimed to achieve hegemony, and that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait was an issue of worldwide concern.
During the interview, Lai also discussed his “four-pillar plan” for peace and prosperity, which he first outlined in an article published by the Wall Street Journal on July 4 last year. That plan includes bolstering Taiwan’s military deterrence, treating economic security as national security, developing partnerships with other democracies, and maintaining steady and principled leadership on cross-strait issues.
Photo: Screengrab from CH50’s YouTube channel
Lai cited recent expressions of support for Taiwan from the international community, including those from Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, US President Joe Biden, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the leaders of some EU countries, as well as statements made during the G7 summit in June.
Those statements all said that “maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is indispensable to international security and prosperity,” Lai said, adding that they illustrated the need for Taiwan to “stand united with the international democratic camp.”
On the issue of economic resilience, Lai said that only 11.4 percent of Taiwan’s overseas investments last year were in China, down significantly from 83.8 percent in 2010.
Taiwanese businesses are dispersing those investments elsewhere including Japan, the US, Europe and Southeast Asia, he said.
Commenting on regional security alliances, Lai cited the establishment of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, the AUKUS security partnership, the Five Eyes alliance and the US-Japan-Philippines summit, which he said showed that democracies are cooperating near the Taiwan Strait.
Responding to rumors that Washington was concerned about Lai lacking diplomatic experience, and that it did not want him to transit through the continental US, Lai denied them and said that he did not have any plans to visit the US in the immediate future.
A White House official also dispelled rumors about US concerns about Lai’s administration during a news conference on Aug. 23.
“Everything that we have seen come out of Taipei indicates that the current leadership remains committed to maintaining status quo, and peace and stability,” the official said.
SHOW OF SUPPORT: As a responsible member of the international community, Taiwan might collaborate with Manila against China’s aggressive actions, MOFA said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday hinted that Taiwan might join forces with the Philippines to protect navigational freedoms, days after Beijing blocked Philippine supply ships in the South China Sea. The ministry made the comment when asked whether Taipei would be willing to join forces with the Philippines to protect the latter from increasingly aggressive activities by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy and China Coast Guard. Taiwan “is willing to cooperate with any other nation with shared values in areas of common concern, including maintaining peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacfic region,” it wrote in a statement. A Chinese
‘TOO TIRED’: The former mayor’s political party said that he had been questioned for nearly 19 hours, so he declined to be questioned at night, as he felt exhausted Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was arrested early yesterday morning after being questioned by prosecutors over his alleged role in a corruption scandal concerning the Core Pacific City redevelopment project during his tenure as Taipei mayor. The arrest was made after Ko refused to be questioned at night and attempted to leave the prosecutors’ office, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Prosecutors were worried that he would collude with others involved in the case to make false statements if they allowed him to leave, so they issued an order to arrest him, the office said. Ko yesterday sought a court
‘LIKE A BLACK HOLE’: The figure is about 7% of China’s reported military spending, although diplomats and experts say that number is often opaque or not fully inclusive China spent about US$15 billion, or 7 percent of its defense budget, on exercises in the western Pacific last year, according to a previously unpublished Taiwanese estimate, showing Beijing’s investment in military activity around Taiwan and its neighbors. The internal research by the military, reviewed by Reuters, offers a rare look into a slice of China’s defense spending as Beijing has ramped up its military presence amid rising tensions in the region. China claims Taiwan as its own and is also locked in disputes with several nations over sovereignty of large parts of the South China Sea and the East China Sea. “This
‘GLOBAL THREAT’: MOFA said that it welcomes the ‘staunch US support’ and that ‘China again made spurious claims about Taiwan that do not accord with reality’ US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan stressed the importance of stability in the Taiwan Strait, while a senior Chinese military official warned the US to stop “collusion” with Taiwan in a rare one-on-one meeting yesterday, both sides said. Sullivan arrived in Beijing on Tuesday, the first US national security adviser to visit China since 2016, for three days of talks with Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) and other high-ranking officials. Yesterday morning, Sullivan met with Zhang Youxia (張又俠), vice chairman of the Central Military Commission and China’s second-highest-ranking military official, at the Beijing headquarters of the commission.