Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu on Saturday warned China against changing international order by spreading authoritarianism.
Wu said in an interview with Australia's Sky News that China "wants to change the international order" and spread its authoritarian system to Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific. He said that if Taiwan falls, the rest of the region will be impacted, reported Taiwan News.
"Taiwan must stand very strong in resisting the expansion of authoritarianism and we will fight very hard to protect not only Taiwan's sovereignty but also Taiwan's democratic way of life," he said.
Wu pointed out that in 2021 alone, China sent nearly 1,000 sorties into Taiwan's air defense identification zone.
He added that China has strengthened its naval forces in recent years and has continuously pointed missiles at Taiwan, reported Taiwan News.
The foreign minister said Taiwan has begun conversations with "like-minded countries" about the Chinese threat and what approach Taiwan should take to best defend itself.
Wu said Taiwan is striving to increase its defense spending to protect its sovereignty, democracy, and territory, reported Taiwan News.
"The way we try to do it is to make more investments in our own defense and defending Taiwan is not just Taiwan's responsibility," he said.
Taiwan is responsible for protecting its own sovereignty, democracy and territory and it is determined to do so, Wu asserted.
Beijing claims full sovereignty over Taiwan, a democracy of almost 24 million people located off the southeastern coast of mainland China, despite the fact that the two sides have been governed separately for more than seven decades.
Taipei, on the other hand, has countered the Chinese aggression by increasing strategic ties with democracies including the US, which has been repeatedly opposed by Beijing. China has threatened that "Taiwan's independence" means war.
( With inputs from ANI )
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor