In May, the Danish journalist Ms. Lene Winther went to Taiwan to interview different dignities about Taiwan’s future and the pressure from China. Among others, she interviewed the foreign minister of the Republic of China (Taiwan), Mr. Joseph Wu. The interview took place after the Scandinavian Airline System-case in which the company decided to change the destination ‘Taipei, Taiwan’ to ‘Taipei, China’. In the interview published May 27, 2018 in Danish newspaper Berlingske, Minister Wu says that China is hostile to Taiwan as they increase the military pressure and attempts to hinder Taiwan in participating in international organizations.
Moreover, Minister Wu explains that China is using ‘sharp power’ on Taiwan to see if it works. If it works, China will also use it on other countries, and that is why the international society should bother and make exchanges with Taiwan so that the democracy can continue on Taiwan.
The entire interview can be found here (Danish, needs log-in): https://www.b.dk/globalt/taiwans-udenrigsminister-til-sas-i-boejer-jer-for-kinas-pres
In the Radio program “China Talk” (Danish: Kina Snak), Minister Wu is asked about his respond to the pressure from China on companies not to list Taiwan as a country? He elaborates: “I think it is a rather serious issue for all of us to deal with. I know of some int. corporations which want to do business with China and there is nothing wrong with that. But when they bow to Chinese pressure to mischaracterize the status of Taiwan; that is the problem. For example, when you come to Taiwan and need our approval to enter Taiwan; when you are in Taiwan you see that we have a democratic government and the president is elected by the people. The parliament - whether we like it or not - is elected by the people. The government exercises exclusive jurisdiction over the territory under its control. And therefore, Taiwan is a country by itself. And Taiwan is not part of China so trying to characterize Taiwan as part of China is [equal to] bending to Chinese pressure. ”
The entire radio program can be accessed here (Danish): https://www.radio24syv.dk/programmer/kina-snak/27620538/trumps-aflysning-og-taiwans-fremtid-del-ii
