The US and its allies should jointly respond to China’s live-fore drills designed to intimidate Taiwan by holding “freedom of navigation” operations in the Taiwan Strait, Representative to the UK Kelly Hsieh (謝武樵) said.
In an interview with the Guardian, Hsieh also called on the UK to uphold the principles of rules-based international order, and forge closer trade and security investment relations with Taiwan.
He welcomed the decision of British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs Liz Truss to condemn China’s intense drills from Aug. 4 to 7 in the wake of a visit by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan on Aug. 3, the first visit by a sitting US House speaker since 1997.
Photo: Reuters
Hsieh said the events in Hong Kong had changed the views of many in Taiwan about China.
“There is a new generation of young Taiwanese voters who have been hugely affected by China’s treatment of Hong Kong and have come to realize the Chinese promise of ‘one country, two systems’ was simply a facade or a joke. Many of these young voters are politically active, and are determined not to suffer the same fate as Hong Kong’s civil society movements,” Hsieh said.
“For decades, China has promised it will not interfere with Taiwan after unification, but since 2020 that is not credible,” he said.
“The scale of these drills were different to what has happened before, and could not have been prepared, and all those resources lined up, in a very short period of time. It was premeditated, preplanned. It was only a matter of choosing the timing, and they just chose Pelosi’s visit. It was a self-orchestrated crisis,” Hsieh said.
However, he said the Chinese response would not intimidate Taiwan or stop its supporters from visiting the country.
A British foreign affairs select committee delegation is due to visit Taipei before the end of this year.
Hsieh said Beijing had used the Pelosi visit as “a pretext to mount its military exercises” and that, although the drills did not themselves amount to a blockade, “it does not take much imagination to work out what the Chinese are thinking about. They are trying to create a new status quo.”
A response asserting the principle of freedom of navigation — international laws protecting freedom of movement at sea — is needed in the next few weeks, Hsieh said, to protect the median line of the Taiwan Strait.
During the week of exercises, China passed the median line, defined by Hsieh as the defining indicator of peace and stability in the Strait, by sea or air more than 100 times.
Asked if an invasion is now inevitable, he said: “Inevitable or not, we have to make sure that it is credibly deterred. Taiwan will fortify its defense capabilities and continue to look for international solidarity.”
Hsieh also confirmed that Taiwan and the UK were discussing ways to boost bilateral trade agreements focusing on solar energy, biosciences, hydrogen power, transport infrastructure and the resilience of the supply chain for semiconductors, an industry Taiwan dominates.
“We are currently in the middle of clarifying areas for the future,” he said.
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