Australian media yesterday cited Australian Minister for Defence Peter Dutton as saying that China would likely ramp up its pressure on Taiwan if Russia were to invade Ukraine.
A worsening of the crisis in Ukraine would likely have implications for security in the Indo-Pacific region, the Australian newspaper cited Dutton as saying.
One way that would manifest would be in China making greater encroachments on Taiwan, he said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Dutton said an invasion of Ukraine would cause instabilities worldwide. Citing an example, he said that for a decade during the Cold War there was instability in Eastern Europe and other parts of the world had also been affected.
Dutton urged the Australian government to pay close attention to the situation in both Ukraine and in the Taiwan Strait.
Separately, the chairman of the Defence and National Security Policy Branch of the Liberal Party in New South Wales, Lincoln Parker, on Sunday said in an interview with Australia’s Sky News that a successful Russian invasion of Ukraine would “leave the door open” for a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
“Indeed, [US] President [Joe] Biden is not committing as many troops as some would like,” he was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, the Sydney Morning Herald yesterday published a report by US Studies Center senior fellow Bruce Wolpe, who said that if Russia invades Ukraine, China would likely seek to copy Moscow’s success.
“If Putin succeeds, and endures the sanctions and can tolerate the Ukrainian people’s uprising, and enjoys a resurgence of pride and glory across Mother Russia, [Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平)] may want to copy that playbook for Taiwan. And sooner rather than later,” Wolpe wrote.
In his National Day Rally speech on Sunday, Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) quoted the Taiwanese song One Small Umbrella (一支小雨傘) to describe his nation’s situation. Wong’s use of such a song shows Singapore’s familiarity with Taiwan’s culture and is a perfect reflection of exchanges between the two nations, Representative to Singapore Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said yesterday in a post on Facebook. Wong quoted the song, saying: “As the rain gets heavier, I will take care of you, and you,” in Mandarin, using it as a metaphor for Singaporeans coming together to face challenges. Other Singaporean politicians have also used Taiwanese songs
NORTHERN STRIKE: Taiwanese military personnel have been training ‘in strategic and tactical battle operations’ in Michigan, a former US diplomat said More than 500 Taiwanese troops participated in this year’s Northern Strike military exercise held at Lake Michigan by the US, a Pentagon-run news outlet reported yesterday. The Michigan National Guard-sponsored drill involved 7,500 military personnel from 36 nations and territories around the world, the Stars and Stripes said. This year’s edition of Northern Strike, which concluded on Sunday, simulated a war in the Indo-Pacific region in a departure from its traditional European focus, it said. The change indicated a greater shift in the US armed forces’ attention to a potential conflict in Asia, it added. Citing a briefing by a Michigan National Guard senior
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US President Donald Trump on Friday said that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) told him China would not invade Taiwan while Trump is in office. Trump made the remarks in an interview with Fox News, ahead of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. “I will tell you, you know, you have a very similar thing with President Xi of China and Taiwan, but I don’t believe there’s any way it’s going to happen as long as I’m here. We’ll see,” Trump said during an interview on Fox News’ Special Report. “He told me: ‘I will never do
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