Link to article: https://apnews.com/article/joseph-wu-taiwan-interview-russia-china-492fbd5e896ae3231de5f3fbf3c93012?utm_source=copy&utm_medium=share
Joseph Wu, Taiwan’s foreign minister, has been urging democratic states to counter Russia and China’s territorial expansion. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and China’s increasing boldness at Taiwan’s border has been concerning him and Wu has asked democratic states to support Ukraine as an act of solidarity among democracies. He hopes that this will mitigate China’s increasing aggression at his borders or dissuade them from attacking Taiwan. He states that China has been pressuring Taiwan with their military, along with engaging in information-based warfare. Despite this, Taiwan is committed to having a peaceful relationship with China. He also expresses confidence in Taiwan’s relationship with the US, along with emphasizing AUKUS’s and other security pacts’ importance in deterring China’s aggression. Taiwan has been garnering sympathy for their cause and been forming unofficial ties with European and Asian states that have been negatively affected by China’s influence.
In my previous regional reports, I reported on China and Taiwan’s sides to this conflict. Russia and China were briefly mentioned, and I speculated about them collaborating possibly in the future, but now that doesn’t seem all that far off from what seems to be happening now. Taiwan seems like they’ve been backed more into a corner than the last article I did on them did. What would it mean for the world if Russia and China started working together? Could they possibly stand up to the US? They are two large states, so it’s possible. China’s allies might not be too pleased with them if they teamed up with Russia though, since Russia doesn’t have many friends right now. When North Korea is your only friend, that isn’t exactly a good sign.
China has been becoming increasingly bolder, which begs the question of whether they are going to attack Taiwan, or more likely, when. Are they looking to garner support from Russia first? Russia is a bit busy fighting their own war, I doubt they are looking to get into another one just yet. Would China help Russia in Ukraine in the event of a team up? Maybe help in Ukraine in exchange for help in Taiwan? Or maybe establishing trade relationships that benefits both? I’m not really sure what they are going to do just yet, but a potential relationship between China and Russia means trouble for democratic states.