Taiwan urges UK, Western allies to help deter Chinese aggression

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Taiwan’s envoy to the United Kingdom Yao Chin-hsiang has urged the United Kingdom and other Western allies to help deter Chinese aggression against Taiwan, Taiwan News reported.

Yao Chin-hsiang made the remarks during a Council on Geostrategy public panel event on January 30. He said that the UK should continue to express concern regarding peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo and actively take concrete measures to defend the freedom of navigation in the region, Taiwan News reported citing Central News Agency (CNA).

He stressed that if the Taiwan Strait faces a Chinese military blockade, it would have a catastrophic effect on global economic and trade activities and harm China significantly. Taiwan envoy called it essential for the UK and its allies to make it clear to China that it recognises this reality.

Yao Chin-hsiang said that Taiwan wants to be a force for good in the world and it has a responsibility to maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. He stated that Taiwan President-elect Lai Ching-te has said that apart from bolstering national defence, he will seek to engage in cross-strait dialogue based on dignity and equality, according to Taiwan News reported.

He spoke about the unprecedented level of China’s interference in the elections conducted in Taiwan. Yao noted that Taiwan had to remain vigilant and resist military and economic coercion and added that it serves as a valuable reminder of authoritarian expansion for over 60 nations preparing for polls. He expressed Taiwan’s willingness to share experiences with nations, Taiwan News reported.

On January 31, Taiwan’s Marine Corps held a maritime drill Wednesday at the Zuoying Naval Base in Kaohsiung, featuring a mine-laying ship and a domestically built assault boat that carried out maritime surveillance and combat operations to simulate defending against a Chinese invasion, Focus Taiwan reported.

The manoeuvres, which took place in waters around Zuoying Harbour, were designed to test the Marine Corps’ ability to identify Chinese military movements quickly as well as their combat preparedness and capability.

During the exercise, the Taiwan Navy made an emergency departure from the harbour with a minelayer and an indigenous M109 assault boat and performed a variety of actions, including surveillance and the use of radar systems and drones to alert battleship forces to approaching hostile forces, reported Focus Taiwan.

Officers and troops on the M109 assault boat told CNA that during the drills, the M109 assault boat played an important part in the operation by bringing sea and land forces together to respond to China’s “grey zone” actions near Taiwan while maintaining maritime safety.

Since 2020, China has increased the use of “grey zone tactics” in the form of deployment of military aircraft and naval vessels over the median line and inside Taiwan’s ADIZ. China’s Communist Party regards Taiwan as its territory, despite never having controlled it. (ANI)