China will not be satisfied with taking over Taiwan, as the nation is only a “stepping stone” to Beijing’s ambitions for global power, Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫?) said in a speech at a US think tank on Tuesday.
“Taiwan is not [Beijing’s] ultimate goal or final destination,” he told the Washington-based Hudson Institute, adding: “The CCP [Chinese Communist Party] wants to see the East to rise and the West to decline; it wants to be hegemon over Europe, the Americas, and the entire world.”
You is leading a legislative delegation that includes Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃), Taiwan People’s Party caucus whip Chiu Chen-yuan (邱臣遠) and New Power Party caucus whip Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智).
Photo: CNA
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) has openly embraced a strategy to “upend the international order” after abandoning notions of China biding its time or pursuing a peaceful rise, he said.
China’s imperialism stems from the CCP regime’s authoritarianism and subscription to Confucian traditions that call for the whole of the world to be subjected to one ruler, he said.
“Protecting Taiwan equates to defending both Europe and the US; to ensure Taiwan’s security is to ensure the global public interest,” You said.
“If we do not take China’s threats seriously, a dark future awaits all of mankind,” he added.
The world should be confident in Taiwan’s will and ability to resist communist aggression, he said, adding that it took imperial Japan nearly six months to subjugate Taiwan proper in 1895.
Taiwan’s heritage of resisting foreign invaders, formidable geography, arms obtained from the US and Taiwanese’s will to resist their foes show that the nation would stand up to aggression, You said.
However, the nation’s strength alone is not enough stop China’s onslaught and it needs support from the US, Europe, Japan and South Korea, You said.
You praised Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol for calling Taiwan a global issue and opposing a change to the status quo by force. He said this had “offset” remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron that a conflict in the Taiwan Strait had nothing to do with Europe.
You said Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr had also said that granting the U.S. access to Philippine military bases was a defensive measure that would be useful if China were to attack Taiwan.
“The crescent of defense formed by Korea, Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines will, with American support, be a key stabilizer of peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region,” he added.
The staunch support democracies have provided Ukraine should act as a deterrent to Xi “to prevent him from taking any reckless action so that he will not become a second Putin,” You said.
The delegation has met with members of the US House of Representatives Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the US and the CCP, You said.
The groups also talked about US Representative Seth Moulton’s remarks that were used out of context by Chinese social media platforms.
Moulton said during a panel discussion that “one of the interesting ideas that’s floated out there for deterrence is just making it very clear to the Chinese, that if you invade Taiwan, we’re gonna blow up TSMC [Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, 台積電].”
“I’m not promoting the idea. I’m not promoting the idea,” Moulton said.
However, his words were clipped to the effect that the US might blow up TSMC factories to deter Chinese aggression, You said.
The suggestion would have been foolish if anyone in the US actually made it in the first place, he said.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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