The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday thanked countries for expressing concern over the latest Chinese live-fire military drills held near Taiwan, including the EU, Australia, France, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, the Philippines and the UK.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) expressed gratitude to like-minded countries for again demonstrating their clear support for maintaining peace, security and the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait.
As a responsible member of the international community, Taiwan would continue to work with like-minded partners to safeguard peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and around the world, Lin said.
Photo: Huang Ching-hsuan, Taipei Times
President William Lai (賴清德) warned that Chinese drills targeting the nation “are not an isolated incident” and pose “significant risks” to the region.
“China’s authoritarian expansion and escalating coercion pose significant risks to regional stability and also impact global shipping, trade and peace,” he said at a promotion and rank conferment ceremony for military officers in Taipei.
The European External Action Service, the EU’s diplomatic service, in a statement on Tuesday said that China’s action “further increases cross-strait tensions and endangers international peace and stability.”
“Peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait are of strategic importance for regional and global security and prosperity. We reiterate our calls to exercise restraint and avoid any actions that may further escalate tensions, which should be resolved through cross-strait dialogue,” it said.
Some EU members issued similar statements through their foreign ministries.
Germany called for “restraint and dialogue,” adding that “any change to the status quo must occur only peacefully and by mutual agreement.”
France expressed concern about “the scale of Chinese military exercises near Taiwan and urged all sides to refrain from escalation in order to preserve peace and stability in the region.”
Meanwhile, the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said it did not support “any unilateral attempts to change the status quo or any activity that risks destabilizing it.”
Countries in the Indo-Pacific region issued similar responses.
Japan yesterday said that China’s military exercises “increase tensions” across the Taiwan Strait, adding that it had expressed its “concerns” to Beijing.
“It has been the consistent position of the Government of Japan that it expects that the issue surrounding Taiwan will be resolved peacefully through dialogue,” Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs press secretary Toshihiro Kitamura said in a statement.
“Peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait are important for the international community as a whole. We will continue to monitor related developments with strong interest,” he added.
South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Park Il on Tuesday said that Seoul hoped “cross-strait relations will develop peacefully through dialogue and cooperation.”
The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade yesterday called the drills “deeply concerning, destabilizing and risk inflaming regional tensions,” adding that it “strongly opposes any actions that increase the risk of accident, miscalculation or escalation.”
Australia “opposes any unilateral action to change the status quo across the Taiwan Strait. Peace and stability are in all our interests,” it said, adding that its officials have raised concerns with their Chinese counterparts.
The New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it is “concerned by another occurrence of large-scale military exercises around Taiwan” and called for the “peaceful resolution of cross-strait issues through de-escalation and dialogue, and for the avoidance of actions that may undermine peace and stability.”
The Philippine Department of National Defense said it was “deeply concerned” over drills that threatened to “undermine regional peace and stability.”
China’s drills, which started on Monday, involved dozens of fighter aircraft and navy vessels conducting live-fire drills, simulating a blockade of Taiwan’s key ports and assaults on maritime targets.
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