TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Foreign Minister Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) was cited by British media on Monday (Dec. 12) as saying that China is preparing a new pretext for its future attack on Taiwan.
In an interview with the Guardian, Wu said that Taipei has reason to believe that Beijing is laying the groundwork for another "pretext for practicing their future attack" on the country. Wu added that communications between Taipei and Beijing could continue to deteriorate given that Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping (習近平) cemented his third term with the purging of rival Chinese Communist Party officials, diminishing what few unofficial links had been left.
Wu told the newspaper that the threat from the People's Liberation Army (PLA) is “getting more serious than ever” as the intrusions of Chinese warplanes in Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) have quintupled over the past two years. A record number of 18 nuclear-capable H-6 bombers penetrated Taiwan's ADIZ over a 24-hour period from Monday to Tuesday (Dec. 12-13).
When Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August, China quickly responded by announcing live-fire drills in 6 zones surrounding Taiwan, with four missiles flying over Taipei en route to Japan's EEZ. Wu stated that the Taiwanese government is "quite sure that the Chinese may want to use another pretext of practicing their future attacks against Taiwan, "and that this constitutes a military threat to the country.
He pointed out that in addition to provocative military maneuvers, China is ratcheting up a "combination of pressures" on Taiwan. Examples he listed included economic coercion, cyber-attacks, cognitive warfare, legal battles, and continued diplomatic campaigns to isolate Taiwan around the world.
