Taiwan’s foreign ministry says China is maliciously violating the UN Charter's prohibition against military force and international legal rules on peaceful conflict resolution. This comes after 12 of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies issued a joint statement to the United Nations on Tuesday.
The letter expressed “serious concern” over China’s recent military drills and its intentional escalation of military threats in the Taiwan Strait. The signatories include Guatemala, Haiti and Paraguay, among others. The joint statement also praised Taiwan’s calm response to China’s intimidation.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Joanne Ou said on Friday that China’s provocations increase cross-strait enmity, harm the international rules-based order and threaten peace and stability in the region.
The ministry says China’s military actions around Taiwan are an attempt to unilaterally change the status quo. It says the exercises have severely disrupted economic activity around some of Indo-Pacific’s busiest shipping lanes.
The ministry also says Taiwan is a democracy and only a democratically elected government can represent the country’s 23.5 million people. It says the Chinese Communist Party, which has never ruled Taiwan, has no right to intervene.