Joseph Wu, Taiwan’s foreign minister, said Thursday that a halt to U.S. arms sales to Ukraine would embolden China in its aggression against Taiwan and fuel Beijing’s propaganda that the United States is an unreliable partner.
“When people ask us if it’s okay for the United States to abandon Ukraine, the answer is no, because the world doesn’t operate in black and white, or if you only look at one scene at a time.” he said. “The world is connected.”
If Russia manages to occupy more of Ukraine and achieve victory, he added, “it would be seen as a victory for authoritarian states because Russia, China, North Korea and Iran are now connected.”
Mr. Wu’s comments, made in a wide-ranging, hour-long interview in Taipei, come as the Biden administration is trying to get Congress to pass an additional funding package that would give Ukraine $60 billion would provide dollars in aid.
Many House Republicans are strongly opposed to giving more aid to Ukraine, adopting the “America First” stance of former President Donald J. Trump, a pro-Russian candidate who urged them to reject the package. For months they claimed they would be willing to consider more aid to Kyiv if the Biden administration imposed strict immigration restrictions at the US border with Mexico. But at Mr. Trump’s urging, they balked at a funding package that would have done that, calling the border measures too weak.
The package also includes $8 billion in aid to counter China in the Asia-Pacific region, $1.9 billion of which would replenish U.S. weapons stocks sent to Taiwan. This also includes $14.1 billion in military aid to Israel.
Some Republican lawmakers argue that China poses a greater threat than Russia and that the funds proposed for Ukraine should be used to counter China. But other Republican officials in Congress and many Democrats make the same argument as Mr. Wu: that Taiwan’s security is tied to that of Ukraine because China will see weakness on the United States’ side – and a greater chance of success in a potential invasion Taiwan – if Ukraine is defeated.
Chinese leaders have said for decades that Taiwan, a de facto independent island, must be brought under Communist Party rule by force if necessary. Xi Jinping, China’s leader, has continued to hold this position.
The U.S. and Taiwanese governments have tried to deter China from the idea of invading Taiwan, including through military buildups in the region and strengthening alliances with other democratic nations.
If the United States abandons Ukraine, Mr. Wu said, China will “take it as an indication” that if it can continue its sustained measures against Taiwan, “the United States will step down, the United States and its allies will The mindset of Chinese officials is this: “Okay, since Russia could do it, so can we.”
“Therefore, the US determination to support those countries suffering from authoritarian aggression is very important,” Mr Wu said.
After the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in 2021, China promoted through traditional state media and social media that “the U.S. commitment to anything is not firm,” Mr. Wu said. “We have suffered from a huge wave of cognitive warfare.”
China also spread disinformation that emphasized Russian narratives about the war, Mr. Wu said, including the idea that NATO expansion forced President Vladimir V. Putin to attack Ukraine and that the United States ultimately did not commit to it to support Ukraine.
On the eve of the Russian invasion in February 2022, Mr. Putin visited Mr. Xi in Beijing and the two governments announced a “borderless” partnership.
Mr. Wu said some Central and Eastern European countries seeking to forge anti-authoritarian partnerships strengthened their ties with Taiwan during the war.
His comments on the need for the United States to continue supporting Taiwan echo those of other senior Taiwanese officials. In May 2023, Bi-khim Hsiao, then Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to the United States and now vice president, made similar arguments to reporters in Washington.
And in February, Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, Democrat of Illinois, said during a visit to Taiwan by American lawmakers that current President Tsai Ing-wen and President-elect Lai Ching-te had made it clear to lawmakers that “if for any reason they can “If the Ukrainians don’t get their way, it will only increase hostilities against Taiwan.”
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2024-03-28 19:05:17
www.nytimes.com
