Taipei has hit back at former Australian prime minister Paul Keating after he said that Taiwan was “not a vital Australian interest,” calling it a “civil matter” for China.
Keating on Wednesday told the National Press Club of Australia that global concerns about China’s aggression toward Taiwan are overblown and criticized bipartisan pushback in his nation.
“Taiwan is not a vital Australian interest,” he said. “We have no alliance with Taipei. There is no piece of paper sitting in Canberra which has an alliance with Taipei.”
Photo: AP
He urged Canberra not to be drawn into a military engagement over Taiwan, “US-sponsored or otherwise,” and said that Taipei was “fundamentally a civil matter” for China.
He also referred to Taiwan as China’s “front doorstep.”
In Taipei, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said that Taiwan and Australia are important partners, sharing universal values and common strategic interests, while China’s aggression had far-reaching implications.
“The crisis in the Taiwan Strait is by no means a domestic matter between Chinese, and the security of the Taiwan Strait involves the stability and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region, but also the global peace, stability and development,” Ou said.
The Australian government had demonstrated the importance it attached to the issue in regional dialogues and other multilateral partnerships, she said, adding: “A peaceful and stable Indo-Pacific region is in the interest of Australia, Taiwan and other countries.”
There is international concern about Beijing’s military capability and potential plans for Taiwan.
It has increased its posturing in the Taiwan Strait, including with near-daily sorties of warplanes into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone, peaking with 149 over four days last month.
In his appearance, Keating rejected the labeling of the Chinese flights as “incursions” and said: “The only time the Chinese will attack or be involved in Taiwan is if the Americans and the Taiwanese try and declare a change in the status of Taiwan.”
Keating said that the “general point” of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and previous leaders was that they would “harmoniously lead the Chinese people into coming to terms with one another.”
However, successive polling shows a growing majority of Taiwanese do not wish to be ruled by China.
Keating also incorrectly said that Australia has “always seen [Taiwan] as a part of China.”
“The whole world has regarded China and Taiwan as one country, the Taiwanese have regarded it as one country, the Chinese, one country,” he said.
Australia’s “one China” policy, like the US’, only acknowledges Beijing’s claim and does not recognize or reject it.
Lowy Institute senior fellow Richard McGregor told the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age that Keating’s narrative about Taiwan had been out of date “for decades.”
“Our military interest is not in fighting a war over Taiwan, but in helping ensure we don’t have to,” McGregor told the newspapers.
Sung Wen-ti (宋文堤), a lecturer on Taiwan-China-US relations at the Australian National University, said that Taiwan was important to Australia “for ideological affinity and for ensuring the credibility of the US’ values-based coalition-building, without which US withdrawal from the Indo-Pacific, and weakened Australia-US relationship, will become more likely.”
“Good people can disagree on whether that makes Taiwan per se a vital strategic interest to Australia, but a strong and dependable US regional engagement certainly is a vital interest for Australia,” Sung said. “And Taiwan is an important part of that puzzle.”
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
COOLING OFF: Temperatures are expected to fall to lows of about 20°C on Sunday and possibly 18°C to 19°C next week, following a wave of northeasterly winds on Friday The Central Weather Administration (CWA) on Sunday forecast more rain and cooler temperatures for northern Taiwan this week, with the mercury dropping to lows of 18°C, as another wave of northeasterly winds sweeps across the country. The current northeasterly winds would continue to affect Taiwan through today, with precipitation peaking today, bringing increased rainfall to windward areas, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said. The weather system would weaken slightly tomorrow before another, stronger wave arrives on Friday, lasting into next week, Liu said. From yesterday to today, northern Taiwan can expect cool, wet weather, with lows of 22°C to 23°C in most areas,
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
RSS