MOFA thanks Australia, UK for joint statement supporting Taiwan

2023/02/06

A joint statement released by Australian and British foreign and defense ministers voicing support for Taiwan is deeply appreciated by the government and people, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Feb. 3.
 
The document was released a day earlier following the Australia-UK ministerial consultations (AUKMIN) 2023 held in London. The participants were Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles, the UK’s Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs James Cleverly and Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace.
 
According to the statement, the participants underscored the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and encouraged the peaceful resolution of cross-strait issues without the threat or use of either force or coercion. Ministers also reaffirmed shared opposition to unilateral changes to the status quo, it said.
 
The two countries are committed to working together to support Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations and reiterated their determination to continue deepening relations with Taiwan in the cultural, economic, scientific, technological and trade fields, the statement added.
 
In response, the MOFA said the statement followed similar documents released by both the U.S.-Japan leaders’ summit meeting and France-Australia foreign and defense ministerial consultations held last month. These demonstrated that cross-strait peace and stability enjoys consensus among democracies and is acknowledged as indispensable in maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific, the ministry added.
 
The government is committed to working with like-minded partners such as Australia and the U.K. to strengthen democratic resilience, safeguard the rules-based international order and advance regional and international prosperity, the MOFA said. 


Source: Taiwan Today (https://taiwantoday.tw/index.php)