Taiwan occupies a critical position in the region, as evidenced by the vessels and civil aircraft using the waters and airspace around the country on a daily basis. If Taiwan were eliminated, or if an international dispute occurred because of Taiwan, shipping and international trade in the area would be severely affected.
To sum up, Taiwan's freedom and democracy, its economic prosperity and its determination to safeguard regional peace and security constitute what I call the three pillars underpinning our attempts to expand our external relations.
Finally, we should enhance US-Japan-Taiwan triangular relations to ensure the three parties can jointly safeguard the peace and security of the Asia-Pacific region. Taiwan has made a tremendous contribution to international shipping and aviation. It would make an enormous difference to regional security if Taiwan were eliminated by China.
TT: Do you mean the ministry plans to redistribute its resources to further cement relations with major states such as the US and Japan?
Chien: Taiwan's security depends upon the security of the region. We will move in this direction through various levels and modes of cooperation. Although Taiwan faces certain limitations, such as its lack of diplomatic ties with the US and Japan, it is mutually beneficial for us to safeguard regional security together even without such ties.
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