The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday expressed gratitude to the US, Japan and South Korea for their continuous attention to issues across the Taiwan Strait, and their efforts to maintain cross-strait peace and stability.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Yoko Kamikawa and South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yul “discussed efforts to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait” on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Thursday, US Department of State spokesman Mathew Miller said.
The three leaders also exchanged views on “ongoing and future efforts to support one another’s respective Indo-Pacific strategies,” as well as North Korea’s provocative behaviors and the conflict in Gaza during the trilateral meeting, Miller said.
Photo: EPA-EFE / South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs
In Taipei, the ministry welcomed the discussion by the three heads of foreign affairs based on the collective stance their leaders adopted at a historic summit at Camp David, Maryland, in August last year.
US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol in a post-summit statement reaffirmed “the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as an indispensable element of security and prosperity in the international community,” and called for a peaceful resolution of cross-strait issues.
China’s provocative actions intended to undermine the “status quo” across the Taiwan Strait, such as its military intimidation against Taiwan and a unilateral change to flight route M503, have posed severe challenges to regional security and aroused great concern from the international community, the ministry said.
Like-minded nations have reiterated the importance of cross-strait peace and stability during leaders’ summits and multilateral meetings, showing that a strong consensus exists on the issue, it said.
As a responsible member of the international community, Taiwan is to continue working with international partners to safeguard the rules-based international order, and promote regional peace, stability and prosperity, it added.
Separately, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday thanked the Japanese government for underlining the importance of cross-strait peace and stability.
Tsai made the remarks during her meeting with Sasakawa Peace Foundation executive director Nobukatsu Kanehara at the Presidential Office in Taipei.
Tsai thanked Kanehara, a senior diplomat, for his support and concern about relations between Taiwan and Japan, and for providing insights on Taiwanese and Japanese affairs in books and at forums.
She also expressed gratitude to the Japanese government for reaffirming the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait on many occasions.
Taiwan and Japan have always been good friends that support each other, such as overcoming the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, and signing agreements to facilitate economic, industrial and cultural exchanges, she said.
Tsai said she hoped to see the two sides continue to expand their cooperation in various fields, and to jointly safeguard democracy and freedom to create a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
RESPONSE: The transit sends a message that China’s alignment with other countries would not deter the West from defending freedom of navigation, an academic said Canadian frigate the Ville de Quebec and Australian guided-missile destroyer the Brisbane transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, the first time the two nations have conducted a joint freedom of navigation operation. The Canadian and Australian militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the passage, saying only that Taiwan’s armed forces had deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets, along with warships and combat aircraft, to safeguard security across the Strait. The two vessels were observed transiting northward along the eastern side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, with Japan being their most likely destination,
‘NOT ALONE’: A Taiwan Strait war would disrupt global trade routes, and could spark a worldwide crisis, so a powerful US presence is needed as a deterrence, a US senator said US Senator Deb Fischer on Thursday urged her colleagues in the US Congress to deepen Washington’s cooperation with Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific partners to contain the global security threat from China. Fischer and other lawmakers recently returned from an official trip to the Indo-Pacific region, where they toured US military bases in Hawaii and Guam, and visited leaders, including President William Lai (賴清德). The trip underscored the reality that the world is undergoing turmoil, and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region is crucial to the security interests of the US and its partners, she said. Her visit to Taiwan demonstrated ways the
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
WAR’S END ANNIVERSARY: ‘Taiwan does not believe in commemorating peace by holding guns,’ the president said on social media after attending a morning ceremony Countries should uphold peace, and promote freedom and democracy, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday as Taiwan marked 80 years since the end of World War II and the Second Sino-Japanese War. Lai, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) and other top officials in the morning attended a ceremony at the National Revolutionary Martyrs’ Shrine in Taipei’s Zhongshan District (中山) to honor those who sacrificed their lives in major battles. “Taiwanese are peace-loving. Taiwan does not believe in commemorating peace by holding guns,” Lai wrote on Facebook afterward, apparently to highlight the contrast with the military parade in Beijing marking the same anniversary. “We
RSS