Former British prime minister Boris Johnson yesterday said Western nations should have the courage to stand with and deepen their economic partnerships with Taiwan in the face of China’s intensified pressure.
He made the remarks at the ninth Ketagalan Forum: 2025 Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Prospect Foundation in Taipei.
Johnson, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time, said he had seen Taiwan’s coastline on a screen on his indoor bicycle, but wanted to learn more about the nation, including its artificial intelligence (AI) development, the key technology of the 21st century.
Photo: Liao Chen-hui, Taipei Times
Calling himself an AI fan, Johnson said he believes it would help humanity in millions of ways, and has the potential to be bigger than the invention of the Internet or even the printing press, and all of it is made possible by Taiwan, as about 95 percent of the chips used for AI are made here.
Johnson said the fundamental reason that Taiwanese chips continue to have an edge over competitors is due to the government’s strategic vision, companies with constant drive to improve, and a commercial environment full of energy and optimism.
Moreover, Taiwan is a free nation, so people have confidence to invest and take risks to innovate, he said, adding that it is vital for the world to protect that freedom.
“The sad thing of what is happening now is that ... Beijing is insisting without the slightest evidence that the current arrangement is somehow unsatisfactory,” he said.
China is trying to bully Taiwan into submission every day, reminding the world of the might of its armed forces with daily military incursions in Taiwan’s waters and air space, signaling its intention of imposing Chinese communist rule on Taiwan and eradicating democracy, by force if necessary, Johnson said.
He said he believes “Taiwan can and will” protect its freedom and democracy, as its people are “lovers of its own liberty,” and that spirit would never be crushed.
Beijing is making a “huge mistake” to intimidate and use aggressive measures against Taiwan, and to publicly contemplate violence is “madness,” he said.
“The minute you use force to make a unilateral change to the status quo, you risk a chain of events that you cannot control,” Johnson said. “It is far easier to start a war than to predict how it will go.”
Ukraine shows how a war can have entirely unforeseen and unintended consequences, and lessons can be drawn from it, he said.
Before the invasion, Russian President Vladimir Putin never expected the colossal expense of Russian blood and resources to control so little territory, nor did he expect Ukrainians would resist so heroically, or receive steadfast and generous Western support, Johnson said.
Putin would go down in history not as the man who restored Russian pride, but for his arrogance and impatience that created Ukrainians’ inextinguishable desire for independence, he said.
Therefore it is vital to have peaceful dialogue across the Taiwan Strait, Johnson said, adding that Beijing should be asked: “Why is it essential to conquer Taiwan,” a nation that presents no conceivable threat.
Johnson said the purpose of his mission in Taiwan is to say: “We are with you. We stand with you” to Taiwanese, because Taiwan stands on the front line of the struggle against autocracy.
“As China intensifies its pressure on Taiwan, I hope that we all — the West, America, the UK and all Europeans — will have the courage not to tiptoe away, not to be cowed to our desire to be deferential to Beijing, but to stand with Taiwan and deepen our economic partnership,” he said.
“Thank you, Taiwan. Thank you for your bravery and for standing up for freedom in a very difficult and dangerous part of the world,” he said.
At a news conference, Johnson was asked whether British Prime Minister Keir Starmer should recognize Taiwan diplomatically after he announced that the UK could recognize the state of Palestine.
He said that under the 1933 Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States, Taiwan’s claim to be recognized by the British government is far more robust, as Taiwan actually has a recognized government, boundaries that it can control, and a proper democratic system, which are clear distinctions.
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