President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday met with new Australian Representative to Taiwan Jenny Bloomfield and expressed the hope that the two nations could start talks about an economic cooperation agreement and strengthen regional supply chain resilience.
Democracies around the world have increasingly recognized the value of peace and stability in the region, with Australia playing a role in the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue with the US, Japan and India, Tsai said at the meeting at the Presidential Office in Taipei.
Taiwan is willing to stand with like-minded allies to safeguard peace, stability and prosperity in the region, and hopes Australia would continue to support the country, she said.
Photo courtesy of the Presidential Office via CNA
Taiwan-Australian trade grew by 10 percent per annum in the past five years, she said, adding that the two countries should forge a resilient supply chain on the basis of their shared values.
Tsai urged Canberra to initiate talks for an economic cooperation agreement, saying that the two nations are ready to create a sustainable and balanced economic recovery, and a new model for interaction.
The president also praised Bloomfield, saying that since assuming office in February, she has worked hard to advance the Taiwan-Australia friendship on every front.
Photo: Screen grab from Twitter
She also congratulated Brisbane for being selected to host the Summer Olympics in 2032, making it the third Australian city to receive the honor in the history of the Games.
Separately, Japanese Minister of Defense Nobuo Kishi called on Australia to exercise leadership in countering Beijing’s move to alter the “status quo” in the region by force.
Kishi made the remarks in an interview with the Australian newspapers the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age published yesterday.
The shifting power balance between the US and China “has become very conspicuous,” while a military battle over Taiwan had “skewed greatly in favor of China,” he said at his office in Tokyo.
Japan is taking steps to boost its defense capabilities and a parliamentary debate about changing the nation’s pacifist constitution might come up as early as the fall, he said.
The military gap between China and Taiwan is growing “year by year,” he said.
“The defense stability of Taiwan is very important, not just for Japan’s security, but for the stability of the world as well,” he added.
He said he expects Australia to take a leadership role in promoting “this vision of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific,” referring to the Japan-led alternative to China’s Belt and Road initiative.
In related news, Representative to Japan Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) yesterday wrote on Facebook that he had met a day earlier with Raymond Greene, who on July 17 assumed the position of charge d’affaires ad interim at the US embassy in Tokyo.
Prior to this assignment, Greene was the deputy director of the American Institute in Taiwan.
It was “a pleasure to discuss areas for US-Japan-Taiwan collaboration such as the Global Cooperation and Training Framework with @Taiwan_in_Japan Frank Hsieh. Taiwan is a democratic role model, an important security and economic partner, and a force for good in the world,” Greene wrote on Twitter yesterday.
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