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 today.
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 favour of China.
“It is conceivable that our diplomatic situation will become grimmer,” Taiwan’s top diplomat Joseph Wu said today.
He anticipated China would step up pressure on the 14 countries that still maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan as a way for Chinese officials to “show loyalty” to Xi.
“We have seen some warning 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 on tight vigilance now... We will verify the intelligence and take advantageous measures to consolidate diplomatic relations.”
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 United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s a visit to the island.
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. – AFP, October 26, 2022
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