Former Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop on Friday called on all nations to forge closer ties with Taiwan, describing the country as a force for good and stability in a rapidly changing world.
Speaking virtually during a luncheon at the annual Yushan Forum, Bishop, who served as her country’s top diplomat from 2013 to 2018, said Australia and Taiwan have long been partners in supporting a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
She lauded Taiwan for playing an important role in supporting many developing Pacific island nations that have deep historical, strategic, social, and economic ties with Australia, referring to the fact that four of Taiwan’s 14 remaining diplomatic allies are situated in the region.
“I know there remains great affection and appreciation for the people of Taiwan, among those Pacific island nations,” said Bishop, who serves as chancellor of the Australian National University since January 2020.
Even more importantly, Australia and Taiwan are both governed by “liberal democratic principles” and a free and open Indo-Pacific region is “best provided and protected by the rules-based international order,” she said.
However, with the rise of Chinese influence in many Pacific islands with Beijing’s Belt-and-Road Initiative over the past years, Bishop said there has been a “contest of ideas” ongoing.
“China’s diplomats were active in promoting the success of their national approach, their model, and compared that to what they describe as political dysfunction, and the overall decline of democratic Western nations,” she continued.
Against this backdrop of the contest of ideas, Bishop said the world is also going through a time of disruption and change both due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
She raised concerns over China’s recent “saber-rattling” which she sees as a cause for global concern, though she believes Beijing’s “risk calculus” will likely be influenced by the global response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Bishop noted that given the fact that Russia and China are members of permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, which give them veto right to major issues that are not in favor of them, she argues that multilateralism “fails the world.”
In response, she called on like-minded nations and partners to work on “smaller groupings,” including bilateralism to protect common interests and that of the wider world.
“This is where Australia’s relationship with Taiwan takes on greater importance,” she said.
She highlighted that Australia is an energy and resources export superpower, while Taiwan is the world’s No. 1 provider of cutting-edge semiconductors.
She proposed that relatively smaller members of the global community like Australia and Taiwan should develop policies to influence other nations and institutions through a supportive multilateral system.
“It is time for all nations with an interest in orders to step up with Australia in partnership with Taiwan and be a force for good and for stability in an uncertain world,” she concluded.
The sixth Yushan Forum was held Friday in Taipei, bringing together academics, experts, and opinion leaders from home and abroad to discuss regional development and recovery in the digital era.
Jointly organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Taipei-based think tank Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation, the daylong physical-virtual event involved representatives from across the New Southbound Policy region, including ASEAN countries, India, Australia, and New Zealand, as well as Canada, the European Union, Japan, Palau, and the United States, among other countries and territories.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel