Taiwan’s foreign minister on Aug. 21 accused Beijing of wanting to follow the Taliban’s footsteps by seizing control of the democratic island, saying the island has no desire to to subjected to communist rule.
The rapid fall of Afghanistan into the Taliban’s hands weeks before the scheduled withdrawal of American troops has spurred debate about whether Taiwan would meet the same fate in the event of a Chinese invasion. The Chinese state media, meanwhile, have also seized the opportunity to cast Washington as an unreliable ally, pushing narratives such as “Afghanistan today, Taiwan tomorrow.”
The communist regime in China, which views the Taiwan as part of its territory despite the latter being governed as a distinct entity, has threatened to use force to bring the island into its fold.
After the U.S. State Department reiterated calls for Beijing to cease pressuring Taiwan on Aug. 21, the democratic island’s foreign minister Joseph Wu responded on Twitter by thanking the United States for “upholding the wishes [and] best interests” of Taiwan people.
These, Wu said, “include democracy [and] freedom from communism, authoritarianism [and] crimes against humanity.”
“China dreams of emulating the Taliban, but let me be blunt: We’ve got the will [and] means to defend ourselves,” he wrote.
This past year, Beijing has escalated its military and rhetorical aggression towards Taiwan. Chinese military maneuvers near the island have markedly increased in recent months, while Chinese diplomats and state media have repeatedly made overt threats to the island.
Earlier this week as Afghanistan fell to the Taliban, Chinese fighter jets, anti-submarine aircraft, and combat ships performed assault drills in multiple locations near Taiwan, with the Chinese military describing the move as a direct response to “provocations” from the United States and Taiwan.
By Eva Fu
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