Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu denounced Beijing’s actions in an exclusive interview with CNN the day after Beijing simulated “joint precision strikes” on Taiwan during military drills around the island and warned that “they seem to be trying to get ready to wage a war against Taiwan.”
According to their rhetoric and military drills, they appear to be preparing to invade Taiwan, Wu claimed.
The Chinese military threat is not acceptable in the eyes of the Taiwanese government, and we reject it.
Wu voiced confidence in Taiwan’s preparedness when asked if Taiwan had any idea of the timing of any potential Chinese military attack, given US intelligence assessments that Xi has ordered his military to be ready by 2027.
“China authorities will reconsider their decision to attack Taiwan with force. And Taiwan must just prepare, whether it’s in 2025, 2027, or even later, he said.
After Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-return wen’s from a 10-day trip to Central America and the United States, during which she visited US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and other US officials, Beijing began the drills on Saturday.
As “a strong warning against the Taiwan separatist forces’ cooperation with overseas forces, and a vital move to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” China called them.
Wu said CNN when asked if the costs of such a trip were excessive, “China cannot control how Taiwan makes friends. Furthermore, China cannot impose its will on how our allies choose to assist Taiwan.
Following Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August of last year, Beijing carried out comparable significant military drills in the vicinity of the island.
Chinese missile launches over the island were part of those drills, which have not been observed thus far in the current ones.
Since the end of a civil war more than seven decades ago, when the victorious Nationalists withdrew to Taipei, Taiwan and China have been administered independently. A US-based non-profit group called Freedom House has placed Taiwan as one of the freest countries in Asia since it made the transition from authoritarian rule to democracy in the 1990s.
Yet, the self-governing island is claimed by China’s ruling Communist Party as part of its territory. As his influence has increased recently, Chinese leader Xi Jinping has made apparent his desire to “reunify” with the island, using force if necessary.
The Chinese drills also fell on the same day that Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, arrived in Beijing on a state visit.
The worst thing would be to believe that we Europeans must follow Americans or Chinese overreactions on this issue, Macron said reporters after his discussion, appearing to query if France should get involved in the Taiwan conflict. Later, French officials claimed that his remarks were misconstrued. CNN was informed by Wu that Taipei has enquired about this with France.
Wu stated, despite the fact that “the French government has been demonstrating support to Taiwan,” that “we are still trying to figure out what he says and what that means through the French government.”
President Joseph Biden has stated that the US would defend the island militarily if China were to strike, despite administration officials insisting that the US is still committed to its “one China” policy as tensions between the US and China over Taiwan have risen.
Via the Taiwan Relations Act, the US is required by law to give Taiwan defence weapons, although authorities frequently purposefully avoid saying whether the US will support Taiwan in the case of a Chinese attack attempt.
Wu emphasised numerous times that “defending Taiwan is our own responsibility,” but he also noted that given the way that the United States and its regional allies are related, “the United States seem to be more determined than ever to create a situation (so) that China would know that its military attack against Taiwan is going to be associated with a heavy cost.” And we value the United States’ position on this.
The drills appeared to be the first times the Chinese navy had practised warplane attacks from aircraft carriers on Taiwan.
