The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday welcomed NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte’s remarks that the organization’s cooperation with Indo-Pacific partners must be deepened to deter potential threats from China and Russia.
Rutte on Wednesday in Berlin met German Chancellor Friedrich Merz ahead of a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of Germany’s accession to NATO.
He told a post-meeting news conference that China is rapidly building up its armed forces, and the number of vessels in its navy outnumbers those of the US Navy.
Photo: Huang Ching-hsuan, Taipei Times
“They will have another 100 ships sailing by 2030. They now have 1,000 nuclear warheads,” Rutte said, adding that such arms and ammunitions are to be applied in wars instead of in military parades in Beijing.
China has the obvious ambition of getting control of Taiwan, and the risk is increasing, he said.
If Beijing decides to attack Taiwan, it would cooperate with Moscow, meaning that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) would call Russian President Vladimir Putin and “ask him to keep us [NATO] busy in this part of Europe,” Rutte said.
The situation showed that the North Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific regions are becoming increasingly intertwined, he said.
During Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, North Korea joined the war on the Russian side, while China’s delivery of dual-use items and Iran’s supply of drone technology to Russia have also aided Moscow’s war efforts, Rutte said.
It is projected that Russia could mount a full-scale attack on NATO territory within the next three to seven years, he added.
To address potential threats from the alliance between Russia and China, NATO must increase defense spending to boost its overall military strength, Rutte said.
It must also deepen its cooperation with Indo-Pacific partners to deter all potential military adventures, he said.
The foreign ministry yesterday said that Rutte has on multiple occasions since assuming his post in October last year mentioned China’s regional expansion and its ambition to invade Taiwan.
Rutte has also been calling on democratic allies to be aware of the authoritarian cooperation between China, Russia, North Korea and Iran, as well as the risks and challenges the bloc poses to global security and the international order, it said.
As a democracy in the international community, Taiwan would bear its responsibility to continue to cooperate with like-minded partners such as NATO and G7 nations to safeguard the peace, stability and prosperity of the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific region, the ministry said.
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