The Canadian political e-journal, "iPolitics," published an article by Ambassador Harry Tseng titled "China's Increasing Encroachment on Taiwan is Not Only Taiwan's Issue," discussing topics such as Taiwan's elections and Canada's initiation of an investigation into Chinese intervention in elections.
Ambassador Tseng pointed out that Canada, like Taiwan, understands the necessity of promptly addressing Chinese interference in democratic processes. If China's unjust encroachment on Taiwan is not stopped, the repercussions will extend far beyond the Taiwan Strait. Therefore, the international community, including Canada, must continue to stand with Taiwan to counter this hostility.
Since the Taiwanese elections in January, China has been exerting various political and military pressures on Taiwan. Initially, China claimed that the election results "do not represent mainstream public opinion," and subsequently induced Nauru to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan, pressured the Asian Volleyball Confederation to revoke Taiwan's hosting rights for the U20 Men's Volleyball Championship, and even threatened to cancel certain tariff reduction items under the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.
Furthermore, on January 30th, China unilaterally announced the cancellation of the M503 offset westward by 6 nautical miles, disregarding the results of the 2015 cross-strait agreement and violating Section 4.2.6 of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Flight Service Planning Manual, thus highlighting China's irresponsible authoritarian nature.
Ambassador Tseng noted that Canada is not unfamiliar with Chinese interference, disinformation, and intimidation tactics. At the end of January, Canada officially launched a foreign interference hearing to investigate China's infiltration into the Canadian federal elections in 2019 and 2021. This demonstrates that both Canada and Taiwan have a deep understanding of China's insidious interference and must give a stern warning as soon as possible.
Ambassador Tseng emphasized that Canada's acknowledgment of foreign interference highlights the Canadian people's appreciation for robust democratic procedures. Similarly, the Taiwanese people demonstrate their fearless pursuit of democracy through fair elections. China's resorting to various punitive measures solely because the results of the Taiwanese elections contradict its interests should serve as a stark warning for Canada.
Read the article: https://www.ipolitics.ca/opinions/chinas-increasing-aggression-against-taiwan-is-not-just-taiwans-problem
