Australia and Japan on Wednesday voiced concern about Taiwan’s elections tomorrow, urging nations to respect its democratic process.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Sky News Australia called on all nations to respect the outcome of Taiwan’s presidential and legislative elections.
“It is important that everyone respects the outcome of democratic elections, that is a matter for the people in Taiwan. That is, certainly the Australian government’s position will be to respect any outcome,” Albanese said. “That should be the decision of every government because we need to respect these democratic processes.”
Photo: AP
In Washington, former Japanese prime minister Taro Aso expressed concern over China’s increased military pressure on Taiwan.
The vice president of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party is on a trip to the US and called for “more peaceful communication between Beijing and Taipei” in his speech at an event organized by the Washington-based Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress think tank, Kyodo News yesterday reported.
“China’s choice of a hasty military unification of Taiwan will only disrupt the international order for its own convenience,” Aso said, adding that “this must not be tolerated.”
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
Citing the broken windows theory, he said: “Now we should pay attention to Taiwan as the next window to be broken,” NHK reported.
“We need to firmly put international deterrence in place to prevent the number of ‘broken windows’ from increasing one after another,” he said.
The alliance between Japan and the US has become “more and more important,” Aso said, urging the two sides to continue working closely in seeking dialogue with China, Kyodo News said.
China has to “exercise restraint” and take the responsibility of a great power in the world for the stability of the international order, it said.
In addition to exchanges with Beijing, Aso also underlined the importance of deterrent force and the need to “develop an appropriate economic and security policy.”
He hoped that the US could rejoin the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, which former US president Donald Trump withdrew from, as the US rejoining would help strengthen “regional stability and prosperity.”
Aso and Kurt Campbell, deputy assistant to US President Joe Biden and coordinator for the Indo-Pacific at the National Security Council, on Tuesday discussed plans for Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to visit the US, which the two agreed would be “key to strengthening the alliance,” the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Ahead of his trip to the US, Aso on Monday said that “there is no doubt that a Taiwan contingency will pose a threat to the existence of Japan,” the Asahi Shimbun reported.
There are at least 20,400 Japanese living in Taiwan, who would have to be evacuated or rescued if a cross-strait conflict breaks out, he said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday expressed gratitude to Aso for his long-term concern for the situation across the Taiwan Strait, and firm support for cross-strait peace and stability.
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