China’s increased bullying of Taiwan is boosting global support for the nation, former US deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage said.
“The more China bullies Taiwan, the more international support comes to Taiwan,” Armitage said in an interview with Voice of America on Wednesday last week.
Armitage recently visited Taiwan, during which he attended the inauguration of President William Lai (賴清德) and Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) and brought a message of bipartisan US support for Lai.
Photo courtesy of the Presidential Office
Asked how he interpreted China’s drills near Taiwan following Lai’s inauguration speech, Armitage said they were expected.
“Lai said: ‘We are open for dialogue on the basis of mutual respect and dignity,’ thereby putting Taiwan on the high road. And I think China was not expecting it,” he said.
Armitage described Taiwan’s geographic position as the “tyranny of proximity,” and said that despite China’s efforts at coercion and intimidation, more countries around the world are speaking up for Taiwan.
On the issue of defense, Armitage said that Taiwan should learn from Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s invasion by incorporating unconventional asymmetrical methods of warfare, including greater use of drones and air defense systems.
Taiwan must also increase military recruitment, which is at 80 percent, he added.
Commenting on how this could be done, Armitage said women should be encouraged to enroll and that more should be done to improve the image of military service.
“More and more Taiwan citizens have to be able to respect those who choose to serve for the defense of Taiwan,” he said.
Taiwan is also not facing the China threat alone, Armitage said.
“People who were not very interested historically, in security terms, in the Taiwan Strait have all of a sudden become very interested,” he said. “Canadians, French, Germans, British and always the US, we’re all patrolling around the area. It’s been brought about by China.”
Asked what security conflict was of the greatest importance to the US, Armitage said that while the US was heavily invested in the defense of Ukraine at the moment, Washington always keeps a global perspective.
“If you remember in 1950, our secretary of state famously said that Korea was outside the defense perimeter of the US. And what happened? Several months later, North Korea invaded,” he said. “So, I would say it’s bad business to try to put anything in an order.”
As for whether tensions in the Taiwan Strait would worsen under Lai, Armitage said that although Beijing has labeled Lai a “separatist,” many security officials in his administration were kept on from Tsai’s government — which would calm Beijing’s concerns.
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