The Australian government has appointed a director of strategic affairs to its representative office in Taiwan in response to increased Chinese threats in the Indo-Pacific region, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The Australian Office in Taipei created the post last year amid Chinese expansionism, the ministry said, adding that the director has been in close contact with the Ministry of National Defense and other agencies.
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Australia has also maintained close communications with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on the regional security situation, it said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The ministry’s announcement came after Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) called on Canberra to send military attaches to Taipei in an interview with The Australian, which was published online on Sunday and in print yesterday.
The representative offices of the US, Japan and Singapore all have military attaches, Wu said.
Military attaches allow the two sides to maintain systematic and institutionalized engagement, share intelligence and jointly assess the regional situation, Wu told The Australian.
Regional issues call for careful discussions between Taiwan and Australia, he said, adding that Taiwan would respect Canberra’s decision.
The Australian Office in Taipei has been communicating with Taiwanese national security officials, which shows that Australia values Taiwan’s opinions, Wu said.
Canberra has always attached importance to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, opposed unilateral changes to the “status quo” and supported Taiwan’s international participation, he said.
Wu thanked the Australian office for issuing a joint statement with seven other representative offices in Taiwan to support Taipei’s participation in the WHO and the World Health Assembly last month.
Australia reiterated the importance of cross-strait peace and stability during the G7 leaders’ summit in the same month and called for the peaceful resolution of cross-strait issues, he said.
Taiwan agrees that a cross-strait conflict “is neither imminent nor inevitable” as US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said at the Shangri-La Dialogue earlier this month, Wu said.
Taiwan would continue to work with democratic partners to deter China by bolstering its self-defense capabilities, he said.
Wu said he hopes that Taiwan and Australia can enhance substantive cooperation, citing the example of Sydney-based Macquarie Capital investing in the Formosa II wind farm in Taiwan, which shows that the two sides are working toward the common goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2050.
The cooperation also shows that Taiwan is safe and stable even in the face of Chinese intimidation, and that Australian investment in Taiwan is increasing instead of decreasing, he said.
Wu called on Australia to begin negotiations for an economic cooperation agreement with Taiwan following the success of such an agreement with New Zealand and the recent signing of the initial agreement under the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade.
Additional reporting by CNA
Taiwanese scientists have engineered plants that can capture about 50 percent more carbon dioxide and produce more than twice as many seeds as unmodified plants, a breakthrough they hope could one day help mitigate global warming and grow more food staples such as rice. If applied to major food crops, the new system could cut carbon emissions and raise yields “without additional equipment or labor costs,” Academia Sinica researcher and lead author the study Lu Kuan-jen (呂冠箴) said. Academia Sinica president James Liao (廖俊智) said that as humans emit 9.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide compared with the 220 billion tonnes absorbed
The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Wanda-Zhonghe Line is 81.7 percent complete, with public opening targeted for the end of 2027, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said today. Surrounding roads are to be open to the public by the end of next year, Hou said during an inspection of construction progress. The 9.5km line, featuring nine underground stations and one depot, is expected to connect Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Station to Chukuang Station in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和). All 18 tunnels for the line are complete, while the main structures of the stations and depot are mostly finished, he
Taipei is to implement widespread road closures around Taipei 101 on Friday to make way for large crowds during the Double Ten National Day celebration, the Taipei Department of Transportation said. A four-minute fireworks display is to be launched from the skyscraper, along with a performance by 500 drones flying in formation above the nearby Nanshan A21 site, starting at 10pm. Vehicle restrictions would occur in phases, they said. From 5pm to 9pm, inner lanes of Songshou Road between Taipei City Hall and Taipei 101 are to be closed, with only the outer lanes remaining open. Between 9pm and 9:40pm, the section is
China’s plan to deploy a new hypersonic ballistic missile at a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) base near Taiwan likely targets US airbases and ships in the western Pacific, but it would also present new threats to Taiwan, defense experts said. The New York Times — citing a US Department of Defense report from last year on China’s military power — on Monday reported in an article titled “The missiles threatening Taiwan” that China has stockpiled 3,500 missiles, 1.5 times more than four years earlier. Although it is unclear how many of those missiles were targeting Taiwan, the newspaper reported
RSS