NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Monday expressed concern about Taiwan’s situation amid China’s “massive military buildup.”
Speaking at a news conference at the The Hague, Netherlands, ahead of the start of NATO’s summit yesterday, Rutte said that countries with close ties to NATO, such as Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, are also concerned, given that three to five Chinese defense companies now rank among the world’s top 10, unlike a few years ago when none were on the list.
“Of course, they don’t do this only because they want to have nice parades in Beijing,” Rutte said.
Photo: AFP
Asked about the worst-case scenario in which the US, under the Taiwan Relations Act, supports or even defends Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack, Rutte said that NATO, as an alliance, has no “opt-out” option.
However, China would make sure that their partner Russia “keeps us busy here [in Europe]” if they “try anything with Taiwan,” he said.
“That is one of the reasons why we have to stand ready, and we cannot be naive,” he said, adding that “extra defense spending is important.”
Rutte said that allies would reach the 2014 benchmark of investing 2 percent of GDP in defense this year, but a new baseline of 5 percent of GDP would be introduced at the summit.
Asked about the situation in Iran, Rutte said that NATO allies have “long agreed that Iran must not develop a nuclear weapon” and that they have “repeatedly urged Iran to meet its obligations under the non-proliferation treaty.”
He added that NATO’s “support for Ukraine is unwavering and will persist.”
European and Canadian allies have pledged more than 35 billion euros (US$40.6 billion) of additional security assistance to Ukraine for the year ahead, he said.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
RSS