Democratic partners should let Beijing know that coercing Taiwan would have “incalculable consequences,” former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott said in Taipei yesterday.
China’s belligerence toward Taiwan has been growing over the past few years, Abbott said in his keynote address at the annual Yushan Forum.
“Sensing that its relative power might have peaked, with its population aging, its economy slowing and its finances creaking, it’s quite possible that Beijing could lash out disastrously very soon,” he said, adding that democratic partners around the globe, as friends of Taiwan, should let Beijing know that any coercion attempts would have “incalculable consequences.”
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
The world has benefited from China’s productivity, including Australia, which supplied iron ore, coal and gas to China, he said.
“Australia has no issue with China. We welcome trade, investment and visits, just not further hectoring about being the chewing gum on China’s boot,” he said.
If the “drums of war” can be heard in the region, it is not Australia that is beating them, he said, citing Chinese professor Victor Gao (高志凱) — a translator of former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平) — as threatening Australia by asking if it wants to be a target of a possible nuclear war after Washington agreed to help Canberra obtain nuclear-powered submarines.
The Taiwan Strait is not the world’s only potential flashpoint, “but nowhere is the struggle between liberty and tyranny more stark than across the Taiwan Strait,” he said.
“China’s belligerence is all self-generated,” he said. “It’s Beijing that’s created the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue — linking the United States, Japan, India and Australia.”
Referring to the US Department of State’s “rock solid” commitment to Taiwan, Abbott said: “I don’t think America could stand by and watch Taiwan swallowed up. I don’t think Australia should be indifferent to the fate of a fellow democracy of almost 25 million people.”
Washington has said it would collaborate with Beijing when it can, and be adversarial when it must, but “Taiwan will be the test,” he added.
“For the democratic world, that means a readiness to support this fellow democracy, including by welcoming Taiwan into the [Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for] Trans-Pacific Partnership [CPTPP],” he said.
China could never be admitted to the trade bloc while engaged in a trade dispute with Australia and predatory trading worldwide, he said.
“Nothing is more pressing right now than solidarity with Taiwan, if we want a better world,” Abbott said before closing his speech, urging Taiwan to “stay free.”
During a news conference held on the sidelines of the forum, Abbott was asked about Taiwan’s application to join the CPTPP.
“Taiwan more than meets the criteria,” considering it is willing to subscribe to the pact’s rules and a rules-based international order, rather than changing the rules, he said.
He said that he could see no reason for other CPTPP members to object to Taiwan’s bid, unless they are pressured by China.
Fortifying the trade pact is one of the Australian government’s priorities, he added.
“We just want to trade fairly with everyone” and expect partners to reciprocate, he said, adding that China has treated Australia unfairly over the past three or four years.
Abbott, who arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday, is due to leave today.
Additional reporting by CNA
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