Foreign Minister Wu gives interview to Spain’s Agencia EFE
2023/10/11
Minister of Foreign Affairs Jaushieh Joseph Wu said Oct. 4 that Taiwan is strengthening its defense capabilities while enhancing cooperation with like-minded partners around the world in the face of China’s escalating military threats.
Wu made the remarks during an online interview with Fernando Prieto Arellano for an article published later the same day by Madrid-based news organization Agencia EFE.
According to the minister, Russia launched a war against Ukraine without any provocation, showing that an authoritarian regime will invade without justification as long as such a move fits its interests.
China is ramping up intimidation efforts against Taiwan by testing its borders with warplanes and battleships, spreading disinformation and conducting cyberattacks and cognitive warfare, Wu said. While the government has adopted a measured approach in response, it is also taking steps to deter a confrontation across the Taiwan Strait by increasing the defense budget and strengthening the armed forces’ asymmetrical capabilities, among other initiatives, he added.
On the topic of global participation, Wu said while Taiwan is not a member of the U.N., it is an important financial, commercial and military partner to its allies and many other countries around the world. In contrast to China’s practice of luring Taiwan’s allies with empty promises, Taiwan helps its partners with cooperative projects in agriculture, medical care and vocational training to truly benefit their people, he added.
The minister pointed out that Beijing’s ambitions do not stop with Taiwan but extend throughout the Indo-Pacific. This has prompted partnerships such as the trilateral Australia-U.K.-U.S. security partnership, the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue and the Five Eyes, and these groups’ concern for cross-strait and regional affairs are sincerely appreciated by the government and people of Taiwan, he said.
Source: Noticias de Taiwan (https://taiwantoday.tw/index.php)
