Despite Beijing’s longstanding push to diplomatically isolate Taiwan, the self-ruled island expects visits by political leaders and officials from liberal democracies to become the new normal, Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu told The Japan Times in an exclusive interview.
In the past year, a growing number of nations have disregarded Beijing’s warnings to deepen unofficial ties with the democratic island, as it seeks to maintain its sovereignty amid China’s push for unification.
"If you look at the number of delegations coming from Europe, or even from the United States, it's just so many of them. We will have two delegations coming from France and more delegations coming from Germany. ... All sorts of parliamentary delegations have visited Taiwan and the purpose is always the same: They want to come to Taiwan, stand on Taiwanese soil and declare that they support Taiwan in the face of the threat coming from China," Wu said.