Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Wu Chiu-sup said in an interview with French newspaper Libération that China is using various means to try to shake, divide and infiltrate Taiwan, but the future of Taiwan should be decided by the people themselves.
In an interview titled “China’s attempts to create chaos,” the French newspaper Libération analyzed China’s threats to Taiwan and the “systematic differences” between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait on July 2. On the impact of the relaunch of the Taiwan-US Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) on cross-strait relations, Wu said that the consultation process lasted eight hours, talking about trade and investment issues and making the closest trade and diplomatic preparations for future bilateral agreements, and the results were quite positive. However, China always does not want Taiwan to have more formal relations with other countries, but Taiwan looks forward to deepening relations with the United States or other countries that enjoy common ideas and interests. Taiwan is also looking forward to bilateral investment agreement talks with the EU and does not want to limit further cooperation with the EU due to China’s obstruction.
In the centenary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party, Xi Jinping said he wanted to solve the Taiwan issue, unify the motherland and “crush Taiwan independence”. In this regard, Wu said that the fundamental differences between Taiwan and China are systemic. “Taiwan is a democracy, China is an autocracy; our government only needs to comply with the majority of public opinion, but China is not. It not only wants to impose its desires on its own people, but also wants to force Taiwan, Hong Kong and others.”
Wu stressed that Taiwan is a free and open country and that its future can only be decided by the people, “Yes, Taiwan is undoubtedly in the front line. Looking at the current international strategic situation, China-centered authoritarianism is expanding, such as the conflict in the South China Sea and the tension with Japan.”
Wu said that China’s expansion in the South China Sea has put the entire region under tension, while also conducting military exercises around Taiwan for a long time. In addition, China has launched a disinformation war against Taiwan in order to “create confusion, divide and infiltrate within our borders. Wu also cited India’s unresolved border conflict with China and China’s influence in Africa as examples of China’s ambitions.
He said, “It is thus clear that China wants to impose its orders around the world, and that democratic countries such as France, Germany, Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia and Japan are increasingly seeing and uniting in cooperation to build an Indo-Pacific strategy that conveys the position that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is essential.”
On the recent situation in Hong Kong, Wu said that Hong Kong used to be the freest society in East Asia, but the freedom of speech, press and academics were reduced to nothing within a year, and the last symbol of freedom of speech, the Apple Daily, was forced to close down, “This is a sad history, which shows that China’s promise of one country, two systems This is sad history, and it shows that China’s promise of “one country, two systems” is a lie.
On the question of whether Taiwan and China can start a dialogue, Wu reiterated that dialogue would be better than confrontation. Taiwan wants to talk to China on the principle of equality and maintaining the status quo on both sides, but China only wants to impose the one-China principle on Taiwan, asking Taiwan to recognize that it is part of China.
We are not stupid or crazy, because it would put Taiwan in the same position as Hong Kong, something the majority of the Taiwanese people clearly oppose,” Wu said. To start a dialogue, Beijing cannot have preconditions. But under Xi Jinping, we don’t see that possibility at this stage.”
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