Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at his ministry in Taipei, Taiwan, Friday, May 17, 2024. – Russia and China are helping each other expand their territorial reach, and democracies must push back against authoritarian states that threaten their rights and sovereignty, Taiwan’s outgoing foreign minister, Joseph Wu, said in an interview with The Associated Press.
In particular, Wu called on Western powers to continue to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia to send a message that democracies will defend one another. Wu said tensions in the South China Sea are “more dangerous” than those in the Taiwan Strait, and they indicate China’s ambition to project power in the region.
China claims Taiwan as its own territory, to be retaken by force if necessary, and maintains military and economic pressure on the island by sending warships and military vessels near it almost daily. China and Taiwan have had separate governments since the Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang, retreated to the island after losing a civil war to the Communist Party in 1949.
Wu said security pacts like those between the U.S., Australia and Japan, and the new AUKUS partnership between Australia, Britain and the U.S. serve to deter China from becoming even more aggressive in the region.