Taiwan🇹🇼 intelligence sharing with India pitches new high

 Taiwan🇹🇼 intelligence sharing with India pitches new high

Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu speaks on Chinese authoritarianism, the need to create alternative supply chains, and pitches for intelligence sharing with India.

The Foreign Minister of the Republic of China (Taiwan), Joseph Wu, spoke to Geeta Mohan, Foreign Affairs Editor, India Today TV, on a wide range of issues, including Chinese authoritarianism, the need to create alternative supply chains to move away from hostile nations, and pitched for intelligence sharing with India. Excerpts from an exclusive interview:

So, for Taiwan to develop closer ties with India is very important and we have the ambition to improve our relations with India.

In areas such as the economy or economic relations, we certainly hope that Taiwanese investment can go further in making an investment in India. So far, we have 2.3 billion US dollars' investment in India that employs about 65,000 people in India and it is rapidly rising right now and we certainly hope that the trend can continue.

Q. It has been a difficult but an interesting year with the world looking at Taiwan and waking up to what Taipei faces. Now, on your National Day, China tried to bully countries not to celebrate, bully Indian media not to cover, but we didn't stop.

Ans. This is a situation that we've been facing for decades, but in the last few years, the situation is becoming more serious than ever. The Chinese are using their economic clout and also their political power to pressure other countries to do otherwise things that will be very normal for other countries. And in this particular case that you mentioned, the Chinese seem to be threatening the Indian press not to report about Taiwan's National Day, but India to us is a big democracy, perhaps the biggest democracy in the whole world, with a vibrant press and freedom-loving people.Pressing Indians or the Indian press not to report about Taiwan's National Day is against our value and we are very happy to see that the Indian press and the Indian friends disregarded the Chinese pressure and celebrated our National Day with us. The fact is that Taiwan is a democracy and shares the same value as Indians and we are very glad that the Indians are celebrating our national day with us.

Q. What are your expectations from the Indian government in fully recognising Taiwan not just as a partner but also a nation?

Ans. Thank you very much for raising that question. To us, it is very important to improve relations with India. It is a country that shares the same values with Taiwan and it is also a country that has a very rich, traditional culture and it is also a country that is so rich with its potential.