Taipei:Taiwan's top national security official emphasized the importance of peace in the Taiwan Strait for Europe's interests and called for enhanced cooperation between Taiwan and Europe to counter growing authoritarian expansion.
According to Focus Taiwan, National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu spoke at the Taiwan Forum, organized by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom. He highlighted the close cooperation between China and Russia, asserting that the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions cannot be treated as separate entities.
Wu referenced a NATO report that identifies China as a critical enabler of Russia's war in Ukraine. He also noted that Russia is a crucial energy supplier to China. Furthermore, Wu echoed NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte's comments regarding the increasing interconnectedness of security in the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions.
He expressed concerns over China's attempts to alter the status quo in the Taiwan Strait through coercion and hybrid warfare, pointing to military drills, air and naval activities, undersea cable sabotage, election interference, and infiltration operations as escalating threats to Taiwan.
Wu advocated for deeper Taiwan-Europe collaboration in advanced technologies, suggesting that Taiwan's strengths in semiconductors, manufacturing, and supply chains could be effectively combined with Europe's research, engineering expertise, capital, and markets.