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Taiwan’s foreign minister said China would look to the war in Ukraine to signal a possible invasion of the island.
Russia has suffered many losses in Ukraine in recent months. Although Russia claimed its forces captured the salt-mining town of Soledar in eastern Ukraine last week, the front line has barely retreated since a major retreat in the south two months ago.
Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu told CBC News Network Rosemary Barton Live in an interview that aired Sunday that China could see a Russian military setback in support of its plan to invade Taiwan.
“I think what the Chinese have learned [the war in Ukraine] is the weakness of the Russian military in order to strengthen itself in the future against Taiwan,” Wu told host Rosemary Barton.
Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu spoke with CBC chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton about growing concerns about China’s invasion and what the island’s democracy wants from allies around the world.
“Of course, that would be the wrong lesson, because war means destruction.”
On Wednesday, China renewed its threat to attack Taiwan and warned that foreign politicians who interact with the self-governing island are “playing with fire.”
The comments came as German and Lithuanian politicians visited the island last week.
A spokesman for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said the country was re-committed in the new year to “safeguarding sovereignty and territorial integrity” and “destroying plots for Taiwan independence.” The independent democracy separated from mainland China in 1949.
Several foreign lawmakers – including Canadian lawmakers – have visited the island in recent months, spurring a display of military power from China and Taiwan in the Taiwan Strait.
In late December, China sent 71 aircraft and seven ships to Taiwan – the biggest exercise in 2022.
Wu said Taiwan is trying to strengthen its own military capabilities but stressed that the island does not want to go to war with China.
“We are trying to prevent war from happening,” he said.
In a separate interview Rosemary Barton Live, Defense Minister Anita Anand said Canada is concerned about China’s military demonstrations in the Taiwan Strait.
“Xi Jinping is under enormous pressure domestically,” Brett Bruen, president of the Global Situation Room, told Power & Politics. “If he wants to try to gain domestic support, we might see him try to do … a small incursion in Taiwan.”
The federal government’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, released in November, states that “Canada will oppose unilateral actions that threaten the status quo in the Taiwan Strait.”
“We need to make sure that Canada is growing in the region and that we are working with our allies to ensure meaningful engagement,” Anand told Barton.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said last month that he doubted that rising military tensions in the region would lead to an invasion.
“We’ve seen increased aerial activity in the strait, we’ve seen increased surface vessel activity around Taiwan,” Austin said. ” “But whether that means that an invasion is imminent, you know, I doubt very much.”
But Brett Bruen, former director of US global engagement in the Obama administration, told the CBC News Network Power & Politics that Chinese President Xi Jinping may opt for a small invasion is a distraction from China’s internal policies.
Until a few weeks ago, China had a strict “zero-COVID” policy. Lockdowns are widespread and very restrictive. But in early December, after a series of angry protests and in response to a faltering economy, China suddenly eased its strict rules.
“If [Xi] looking to shore up domestic support we can see people trying to do … a small incursion from Taiwan,” Bruen told host David Cochrane. Bruen said one of the small islands between Taiwan and China could be a target.
Canada’s UN Ambassador Bob Rae told CBC Radio House while it is unclear whether China will invade Taiwan, Xi’s recent rhetoric is “deeply troubling.”
“We have to be prepared and ready for whatever comes our way. We don’t have to be naive,” he told host Catherine Cullen.
During a stop in Ottawa last week, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that “he wants to work with Canada to maintain and strengthen peace and stability” in the Indo-Pacific region, according to a reading from Japan. embassy.
During a press conference after his meeting with Trudeau, Kishida said Japan and Canada “strongly agree” that there will be no attempt to change the international “status quo” through violence, although he did not mention Taiwan.
“This should not happen anywhere, including in Asia,” he said.
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