Taiwan’s deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs François Chihchung Wu said that should China try to take Taiwan, war would be bad for the entire Pacific region.
Wu spoke to media from the Pacific on 30 June and talked about what he believes China’s president wants to do in the region.
The Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs brought journalists from around the Pacific for a visit to the country that lasted from late June into early July.
“President of China, Xi Jinping, he has a very big ambition to dominate the Pacific Ocean and to break the status quo in the region and try to conquer Taiwan,” Wu said during the visit.
Wu said he doesn’t think that would be acceptable for a lot of countries.
He said Taiwan shares the same common national interests of many Pacific islands, which are peace, stability and freedom.
Wu pointed to China increasing its military power and concerns shared not just by Taiwan, but other nations in the area like Japan and the Philippines as well as the U.S.
Analysts have called China’s ongoing military modernisation the biggest in human history, the Pacific Daily News has reported. The People’s Liberation Army has more than tripled its stockpile of nuclear warheads since 2019 and is building up ballistic missiles like the DF-26 “Guam Killer.”
Wu said if China takes control of Taiwan, it would not be good for many countries around the world.
Wu pointed to more than 60,000 containers that cross through the Taiwan Strait every year, which could be stopped from moving if China attempts to blockade the strait, and could change modern life.
He also shared that if China takes over Taiwan, it will build a naval base on the east coast of Taiwan and then challenge the American Navy in the Pacific Ocean.
“Just imagine a Pacific area led by China. I don’t think none of you here will have the interest to see this future,” Wu said.
He said that’s why it’s important for Taiwan to work closely with the international community to try to maintain the status quo.
“If war occur, everyone will be loser,” he said.
Wu said the best course of action is to avoid war in the region.
“I still believe that by a diplomatic way, peace can be maintained here. We still can avoid the war,” he said.
“We need the voice of everyone to tell the world that we need to maintain the status quo, the peace, and freedom,” Wu added.
