Taiwan envoy to U.S. says China bullying spurs foreign interest

18/8/2022 6:06

        China's aggressive military
        response to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan
        has increased interest from other countries' parliaments in
        similar trips, the island's de facto ambassador to the United
        States said on Wednesday.
        
        China, which claims Taiwan as its territory, carried out its
        largest-ever military exercises around the self-governed island
        after a visit earlier this month by Pelosi, who was followed
        this week by five more U.S. lawmakers.
        
        The White House has said China "overreacted" to Pelosi's
        visit, using it as a pretext to try to change the status quo in
        the Taiwan Strait by launching missiles over Taiwan and staging
        blockade drills around the island.
        
        "What China is doing is they are generating greater interest
        than ever in visiting Taiwan," Taiwan's top representative in
        Washington Hsiao Bi-khim told Reuters in an interview.
        
        "We have seen since the visit parliaments from other
        countries also indicating an interest," she said, naming
        Germany, Canada, the United Kingdom and Japan among countries
        that could possibly send delegations.
        
        "The victim of bullying needs friends," Hsiao said. "Their
        behavior is generating so much attention and sympathy towards
        our situation," she said of China's military actions.
        
        A delegation of Canadian lawmakers plans to visit Taiwan in
        October, Liberal Member of Canada's Parliament Judy Sgro said
        earlier on Wednesday.
        
        Beijing imposed sanctions on a Lithuanian minister who
        visited Taiwan days after Pelosi's trip.
        
        Asked if Taiwan would welcome a visit by a Republican
        speaker should the party take control of the House of
        Representatives after U.S. midterm elections, Hsiao said: "We
        have been open for decades to congressional delegations, and
        that applies to members of any party."
        
        China has never renounced using force to bring Taiwan under
        its control and views visits by other countries' officials to
        Taiwan as sending an encouraging signal to the island's
        pro-independence camp. Taiwan rejects Beijing's sovereignty
        claims and says only its people can decide its future.
        
        Pelosi had said that her visit was a signal that China could
        not prevent world leaders from traveling to the island.
        
        The United States does not have official diplomatic ties
        with Taiwan but is bound under U.S. law to provide it with
        means to defend itself, a long-standing practice which
        nonetheless angers China.
        
        "This is the move that changes the status quo. This is the
        move that creates tensions," China's ambassador to Washington
        Qin Gang told reporters on Tuesday when asked about future U.S.
        arms sales to Taiwan.
        
        Taiwan has previously talked of problems accessing some
        weapons it has on order from the United States, like
        shoulder-fired Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, especially given
        supply chain bottlenecks created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
        
        Hsiao said Taiwan was closely coordinating its defense
        priorities and delivery schedules with the United States, and
        that defense industry supply chain issues were being actively
        addressed.