2024-01-02 05:30:04
Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu in Prague on June 14, 2023. DAVID W CERNY / REUTERS
Qualified for “irreducible separatist-independence” by Beijing, Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu was one of the first three Taiwanese to be sanctioned by China in May 2021. “To tell the truth, I’m very proud of it. Many people here in Taiwan are jealous! »he jokes during the exclusive interview he gave to Mondeon December 29, 2023, by video link.
However, according to him, this sanction is not based on the reality of the last eight years during which his party, the DPP (Progressive Democratic Party, independence, according to its charter), was in power, and, contrary to accusations from Beijing, “very vigorously defended the status quo on both sides of the Taiwan Strait”.
Less than two weeks before the Taiwanese presidential election, Joseph Wu therefore insists on the position “very moderate and responsible” that the island, led by President Tsai Ing-wen since 2016, has continued to hold despite the worsening tensions between the two sides of the strait and between Beijing and Washington. The Head of State has, in fact, according to him, “made sure not to give any excuse to the Chinese government to justify launching a war against Taiwan, while strengthening its security or defense capabilities, so that the Chinese government understands that seizing Taiwan will not be easy”.
“Hybrid Warfare”
Although the gap between the two main candidates is narrowing, polls suggest that the DPP, led by current Vice President Lai Ching-te [William Lai], could remain in power for a third four-year term; at the end of the vote, he would therefore be able to win against Hou Yu-ih of the Kouomintang (KMT), the old nationalist party and great rival of the Chinese communists during the civil war, paradoxically becoming the only political formation with with which Beijing today agrees to dialogue because of its more conciliatory attitude.
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“China is trying to convey the idea that these elections are a choice between war and economic slowdown [si le DPP gagne] or peace and prosperity [si le KMT l’emporte] »asserts Joseph Wu, denouncing “increasingly sophisticated Chinese interference”.
“But the first duty of the Taiwanese government has been precisely to guarantee peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and to prevent war from occurring, he continues. War means disaster for Taiwan, but also for China, for all the other countries that will be involved and for the rest of the world. We obviously want to avoid it at all costs. »
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