Countries in region 'next' if China seizes Taiwan – Lai

TAIPEI, February 14 ------ Taiwan’s leader Lai Ching-te warned that countries in the region would be China’s next targets should Beijing seize the democratic island, as he insisted on the need for Taipei to dramatically shore up its defenses.

Speaking to Agence France-Presse (AFP) in his first interview with a global news agency since taking office in May 2024, Lai said he was confident the Taiwanese legislature would approve an additional $40-billion budget to fund crucial defense purchases, including wea­pons from the United States.

China’s President Xi Jinping has warned Washington against selling weapons to Taiwan, but Lai said the US would stand by Taiwan and would not need to use it as a “bargaining chip” with Beijing. Beijing condemned Lai’s remarks, calling him a “peace disruptor, crisis creator, and war instigator.” “Seeking independence through external means and resisting reunification by force is like an ant trying to shake a tree: doomed to failure,” China’s foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a regular briefing. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has threatened to use force to bring the self-governed island under its control.

Lai said if China were to take Taiwan, Beijing would become “more aggressive, undermining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific and the rules-based international order.” “If Taiwan were annexed by China, China’s expansionist ambitions would not stop there,” Lai told AFP during an exclusive interview at his office building in the capital Taipei on Tuesday. “The next countries under threat would be Japan, the Philippines, and others in the Indo-Pacific region, with repercussions eventually reaching the Americas and Europe,” he said.

‘Peace-building effort’

Taiwan sees its location at the center of the Asia-Pacific’s so-called first island chain, which stretches from Japan to the Philippines, as critical to regional security and international trade. China has competing territorial claims with Japan and the Philippines, while the Taiwan Strait is a major artery for global shipping.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, whose country hosts several US bases and around 60,000 American troops, suggested in November that Tokyo could intervene militarily if China attacked Taiwan, drawing a furious response from Beijing. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has also warned the archipelago nation, where US troops have access to nine military bases, would “inevitably” be dragged into a war over Taiwan. “In this changing world, nations belong to a global community — a situation in any one country would inevitably impact another,” Lai said.

Ahead of US President Donald Trump’s planned meeting with Xi in Beijing in April, Lai said Taiwan welcomed any talks that helped maintain the status quo. “We believe President Trump is undertaking a difficult peace-building effort, which entails safeguarding US interests and deterring Chinese expansionism in the short term,” Lai said. He added that the US did not need “to frame Taiwan as a bargaining chip in any discussions with China.”

Source: manilatimes.net