TAIPEI —
Beijing will step up efforts to pick off Taiwan’s
last remaining allies after Xi Jinping secured a third term in power, as Chinese
officials up the ante to show loyalty to the president, Taipei’s foreign
minister said Wednesday.
اضافة اعلان
A major gathering of
China’s communist leaders at
the weekend saw Xi cement his status as the country’s most influential leader
since Mao Zedong.
Beijing claims self-ruled Taiwan as part of its
territory and has vowed to take control of the island, by force if necessary.
It has spent decades encouraging Taiwan’s diplomatic
allies to break ties in favor of China.
“It is conceivable that our diplomatic situation
will become grimmer,” Taiwan’s top diplomat Joseph Wu said Wednesday.
He anticipated China would step up pressure on the
14 countries that still maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan as a way for
Chinese officials to “show loyalty” to Xi.
“We have seen some warnings in intelligence. ... We
hope our diplomatic relations will not be influenced by China,” Wu said at a
parliamentary session.
“All of our embassies and missions are highly
vigilant now. ... We will verify the intelligence and take advantageous measures
to consolidate diplomatic relations.”
Beijing has
ramped up military, diplomatic and economic pressure on Taipei since the 2016
election of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.
Tsai on Wednesday offered her first public comments
on China’s
Communist Party Congress that ended at the weekend, calling for
unity in the face of “the expansion of Chinese authoritarianism”.
“The more prepared we are, the less chance Beijing
will advance rashly, while the more united we are, the stronger and safer
Taiwan will be,” she said at a meeting of her ruling party.
Tensions between Taiwan and China soared to their
highest level for years in August after Beijing staged huge and unprecedented
military drills to protest against a visit to the island by US house speaker
Nancy Pelosi.
Beijing lashes out at any diplomatic action that
might lend Taiwan international legitimacy and has responded with growing anger
to visits by Western politicians.
When asked by a lawmaker if Beijing is speeding up
its timeline for taking Taiwan, Wu said the military threat has been “rapidly
growing” in recent years.
“Whether China decides it’s next year, the year
after next year, 2025, 2027, 2030 or whatever time they see the conditions as
mature to attack Taiwan, the most important thing for us is to be well prepared
to defend ourselves,” he said.
Separately, Wu announced that Taiwan planned to
donate US$56 million to Ukraine to help it rebuild schools, hospitals and
infrastructure.
There has been an outpouring of public support for
Ukraine in Taiwan since Russia’s invasion, which has deepened fears that
Beijing might similarly follow through on threats to annex the island.
“Ukraine stands as a role model for
Taiwan,” Wu said
at a reception for visiting lawmakers from Ukraine and Lithuania.
“We both are fighting for freedom and democracy, and
we know Ukraine is going to prevail. Ukraine is going to win. Glory to Ukraine
and we will win with Ukraine.”
The donation, pending parliament’s approval, follows
a public fundraising drive for Ukraine that collected nearly $33 million in
just four weeks earlier this year.
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