《TAIPEI TIMES》Arms supply suspension would embolden China

INTERCONNECTED: Abandoning Ukraine would show that US and other allies would back off if there is sustained aggression against the nation, Joseph Wu said

By Wu Tse-yu / Staff Reporter

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The suspension of US arms shipments to Ukraine would embolden China’s aggressions toward Taiwan, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu （吳釗燮） said.

Wu made the remark in an interview with the New York Times, which was published on Thursday.

“When people ask us whether it is OK for the United States to abandon Ukraine, the answer is no, because the world is operating not in a black and white way, or if you only look at one theater at a time,” he said. “The world is interconnected.”

If Russia claims more territory from Ukraine, “it would be seen as a victory of authoritarian states because Russia, China, North Korea and Iran, they are now linked together,” Wu said.

Taiwan’s security is linked to that of Ukraine, he added.

If the US abandons Ukraine, China would “take it as a hint” that if it could keep up sustained action against Taiwan, “the United States is going to back off, the United States and its allies are going to back off,” Wu said. “The thinking among Chinese officials would be: ‘OK, since Russia could do that, we can do that as well.’”

“The US’ determination in providing support to those countries suffering from authoritarian aggression, it is very important,” he added.

Wu also said that China has spread disinformation, attempting to shake unity among democracies.

Taiwan “suffered from a huge wave of cognitive warfare” after the US force pulled out from Afghanistan in 2021, he said, adding that China had pushed propaganda that “the US’ commitment to anything is not firm.”

In the Russia-Ukraine war, China also spread Russian narratives through disinformation, including the idea that the expansion of NATO forced Russian President Vladimir Putin to attack Ukraine and that the US is ultimately not committed to supporting Ukraine, Wu said.

Unlike China, Taiwan has been offering assistance to Ukraine, he said.

This has strengthened Taiwan’s relations with some central and eastern European nations, as countries — aside from supporting Taiwan’s democracy, given that they were formerly under the communist rule of the Soviet Union — have grasped the importance of cooperation with like-minded nations, he added.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES