Australia’s new foreign minister, Senator Penny Wong, says her country discourages any unilateral change to the status quo in the Taiwan Strait. That remark followed a special lecture organized by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in Singapore on Wednesday.
Wong’s speech at the IISS, titled “Australia, ASEAN and Southeast Asia,” focused on global challenges such as the military coup in Myanmar and Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. She says the region and the world should be governed by rules and laws and not by any country’s power or size.
Following the speech, Wong was asked whether Australia’s position would “be in lockstep” with the US on the issue of Taiwan.
The Australian minister says that Australia is working closely with the US on issues like military procurement and observes a discipline of not engaging in hypotheticals. At the same time, the country continues to discourage any unilateral change to the status quo in the Taiwan Strait. She says that position is consistent with Australia’s other partners in the region.
Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Joanne Ou said on Friday that Minister Wong’s remarks show that Australia’s successive governments are deeply and consistently concerned with peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. She says that Taiwan and Australia share common values and will continue to build mutual trust and mutually-beneficial relationships.