Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday expressed gratitude to France for stating its commitment to preserving peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, and opposing any unilateral change to the “status quo” in France’s Indo-Pacific Strategy report released on Friday.
In the first section, titled “a space traversed by strategic challenges that are gaining in intensity,” the French government’s strategy report said that “China’s growing assertiveness in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Seas” is undermining security throughout the Indo-Pacific region.
The risk of an open crisis, with major consequences for the region, Europe, France and particularly its overseas territories, continues to grow, and “a high-intensity conflict in the Taiwan Strait would have major effects, both in terms of global economic repercussions and the risk of geographic spread,” it said.
Photo: Taipei Times
France “expresses its commitment to preserving peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. It opposes any unilateral change to the ‘status quo,’ including through the use or threat of force or coercion, and calls for the peaceful resolution of disputes,” the report said in its second section.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said France’s previous report released in 2022 only mentioned its concern for heightened tensions in the Taiwan Strait, but this year’s updated version further included its stance of preserving peace and stability in the strait and opposition to any unilateral change to the “status quo.”
Lin highly welcomes and thanks France for the statement, it said.
The statement comes shortly after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron pledged their commitment to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait in a joint declaration after the 37th UK-France Summit in London on July 10.
“They fully demonstrate that maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait has become a consensus and common interest of the global society,” the ministry said.
Upholding the concept of integrated diplomacy, Taiwan would continue to deepen collaboration with France and other democratic partners, and together defend freedom, democracy, and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, it said.
NEXT GENERATION: The four plants in the Central Taiwan Science Park, designated Fab 25, would consist of four 1.4-nanometer wafer manufacturing plants, TSMC said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin construction of four new plants later this year, with the aim to officially launch production of 2-nanometer semiconductor wafers by late 2028, Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau director-general Hsu Maw-shin (許茂新) said. Hsu made the announcement at an event on Friday evening celebrating the Central Taiwan Science Park’s 22nd anniversary. The second phase of the park’s expansion would commence with the initial construction of water detention ponds and other structures aimed at soil and water conservation, Hsu said. TSMC has officially leased the land, with the Central Taiwan Science Park having handed over the
The Philippines is working behind the scenes to enhance its defensive cooperation with Taiwan, the Washington Post said in a report published on Monday. “It would be hiding from the obvious to say that Taiwan’s security will not affect us,” Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilbert Teodoro Jr told the paper in an interview on Thursday last week. Although there has been no formal change to the Philippines’ diplomatic stance on recognizing Taiwan, Manila is increasingly concerned about Chinese encroachment in the South China Sea, the report said. The number of Chinese vessels in the seas around the Philippines, as well as Chinese
URBAN COMBAT: FIM-92 Stinger shoulder-fired missiles from the US made a rare public appearance during early-morning drills simulating an invasion of the Taipei MRT The ongoing Han Kuang military exercises entered their sixth day yesterday, simulating repelling enemy landings in Penghu County, setting up fortifications in Tainan, laying mines in waters in Kaohsiung and conducting urban combat drills in Taipei. At 5am in Penghu — part of the exercise’s first combat zone — participating units responded to a simulated rapid enemy landing on beaches, combining infantry as well as armored personnel. First Combat Zone Commander Chen Chun-yuan (陳俊源) led the combined armed troops utilizing a variety of weapons systems. Wang Keng-sheng (王鏗勝), the commander in charge of the Penghu Defense Command’s mechanized battalion, said he would give
AUKUS: The Australian Ambassador to the US said his country is working with the Pentagon and he is confident that submarine issues will be resolved Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd on Friday said that if Taiwan were to fall to China’s occupation, it would unleash China’s military capacities and capabilities more broadly. He also said his country is working with the Pentagon on the US Department of Defense’s review of the AUKUS submarine project and is confident that all issues raised will be resolved. Rudd, who served as Australian prime minister from 2007 to 2010 and for three months in 2013, made the remarks at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado and stressed the longstanding US-Australia alliance and his close relationship with the US Undersecretary
RSS