Hong Kong national security law: Taiwan’s foreign minister urges countries to speak out against Beijing
- As mainland China seeks ‘to expand its communist ideology and authoritarian international order, Taiwan is on the front line of defending freedom and democracy’, Joseph Wu says
- Island wants ‘to cooperate with like-minded countries to defend our way of life’, he says
Speaking to overseas media representatives, Foreign Minister Joseph Wu expressed his concern at the increasingly hostile behaviour of the mainland Chinese military, which he said had been conducting frequent war games, and air and naval patrols close to Taiwan.
After Beijing’s actions in Hong Kong, he said he feared the democratic island might become the mainland’s next target.
“As China is eager to expand its communist ideology and authoritarian international order, Taiwan is on the front line of defending freedom and democracy,” Wu said.
“We would like to cooperate with like-minded countries to defend our way of life.”
There was a clear need for the international community to send a message to Beijing that they opposed the way in which it pushed through the security law in Hong Kong, Wu said, adding that it targeted not just the former British colony, but Taiwan and elsewhere.