Taiwan foreign minister: ‘We think that the war can be avoided’

TAIPEI – Taiwan needs to earn U.S. military assistance and diplomatic support as it faces down a potential Chinese invasion or blockade. 

That was the message from Taiwanese Foreign Minister Jaushieh Joseph Wu during a briefing with international reporters at the Taiwan Foreign Ministry Tuesday. 

“If we do not have the determination to fight for ourselves, we don’t have the right to ask other countries to fight for Taiwan, or to support Taiwan if there’s going to be a fight,” Wu said. 

“So this is the expression of our strong determination to defend ourselves.”

His remarks come as the U.S. is expected to announce $500 million in direct military assistance for Taiwan, using a presidential authority that provides an immediate transfer of weapons straight from U.S. stockpiles.

The package is aimed at delivering critical munitions as $19 billion in direct military sales are held up amid production challenges, Taiwan’s Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng reportedly told lawmakers Monday. 

It would mark the first time the Biden administration has used the Presidential Drawdown Authority for weapons transfers to Taiwan, tapping into a Congressional authorization in the 2023 budget allocating $1 billion for Taiwan. 

Wu, in response to a question from The Hill, said China might use force against Taiwan if Beijing perceives Taipei as weak and that the country is “engaging in very serious military reform, and we have also been making more military investment in our own defense needs.”

U.S. officials have warned that Chinese President Xi Jinping is gearing up to launch a military invasion of Taiwan as early as 2027. Beijing may also launch a blockade of the island in a bid to exert economic control. 

The Biden administration, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, have said supporting Taiwan to fend off aggression by the People’s Republic of China is a core American interest — drawing parallels to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

But lawmakers have also warned that Taiwan is ill prepared to fend off a military invasion or withstand a blockade. 

Wu would not comment on the $500 million package but said that Taiwan is “working with the U.S. administration to find creative ways for those weapons to be delivered.”

And while he said Taiwan is carrying out military reforms — the government is working to expand conscription from four months to one year — he described the U.S. training of Taiwanese forces as “critical” for Taiwan’s self defense.

“We don’t want to think about the D-day type of scenario at this moment; we think that the war can be avoided,” Wu said. 

Meanwhile, Taiwan is working to deepen its existing diplomatic ties and foster new ones, seeking to show Beijing that Taipei has the backing of a coalition of supporters similar to the NATO-led alliance supporting Ukraine and punishing Russia. 

“Those kinds of support will not only be felt by the Taiwanese people that we are not alone, it will also be heard by the authoritarian leaders in Beijing that NATO, or EU, or G7 are behind Taiwan.”

Taipei is keeping a close eye on President Biden’s trip to the Group of 7 leaders summit in Hiroshima, Japan, May 19, pushing for the member-states to issue a joint statement in support of Taiwan and warning China off of aggressive action.

“Their joint statement, if they mention about the peace and stability over the Taiwan strait, or their opposition to the unilateral change of status quo, or other languages of support for Taiwan, I think China is going to understand that Taiwan is not alone and that would prevent China from thinking they are dealing with Taiwan alone,” Wu said.

And Biden’s planned trip to Papua New Guinea following the G7 summit, announced early Tuesday morning, was hotly anticipated in Taipei, which views the president’s travel as a historic trip that serves to push back against China’s inroads in the region.

While Taiwan is seeking a broad international coalition of support, its relationship with the U.S. is viewed as its most consequential, and leaders of both political parties have offered strong messages of U.S. backing amid Chinese threats. 

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) met with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen in California in April, and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) visited the island last summer. 

The self-governed, democratic island of Taiwan has increasingly sought to elevate its profile on the global stage as a key strategy in pushing back against Beijing’s claims that the island is subservient to the mainland.

The Taiwan government, which evolved into a democracy following its establishment in the aftermath of China’s civil war, has not said it seeks to declare independence, but is focused on maintaining a status quo where it operates independently until it can hold peace talks with Beijing. 

“We have made it known for a long time that we are open for dialogue free from political preconditions,” Wu said. 

“We openly call for peace dialogue between Taiwan and China based on reciprocity, based on parity — the two sides should be sitting together with each other without political preconditions, so that we can iron out our differences between the two sides.”

The U.S. recognizes Beijing as the legitimate representative Chinese government, but it is also committed to helping Taiwan defend itself from outside aggression. Officials in Washington have grown more hawkish in supporting Taiwan as they have described China as becoming more repressive at home and aggressive abroad. 

Biden has pushed the boundaries of U.S. policy toward Taiwan, called “strategic ambiguity”, by saying at least four times that American troops would defend Taiwan in the event of an invasion — even as senior officials have played down that commitment. 

“I think President Biden has mentioned about that several times, and we really appreciate it very much,” Wu said, referring to the president’s remarks about U.S. defense commitments. 

“But again, in order for Taiwan to be able to defend itself, we need to toughen our training, we need to make more investment in our own security, and we will also discuss further with the U.S. government so that Taiwan can be more capable in defending itself.” 

The writer was on a press trip to Taiwan paid for by the Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.