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Foreign minister suggests military attaché exchange with Australia

ROC Central News Agency

06/26/2023 08:13 PM

Taipei, June 26 (CNA) Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) has suggested exchanging military attachés with Australia to improve information sharing in light of the rising security threat of China.

In an interview published by The Australian newspaper on Sunday, Wu suggested having a military attaché posted to the Australia Office in Taipei, which acts as the country's de facto embassy in the absence of diplomatic relations.

Wu told the newspaper that other countries without official ties with Taiwan, including the United States, Japan and Singapore, maintained a similar presence in Taipei.

Wu added that Taiwan's government wanted to post a military attaché to its representative office in Canberra.

Australian officials in Taiwan have started speaking with local security agencies, an "important development" that shows that Canberra wants "to understand our perspectives on how to prevent the worst from happening," he said, according to The Australian.

"I think it is very important when the Australian government is paying so much more attention to the regional security issues for the two countries to be able to share their observations, their assessment of the situation," Wu was quoted as saying.

Asked for comment by CNA, foreign ministry spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) did not provide further details regarding the proposed exchange of military attachés.

Liu, however, disclosed that the Australian Office in Taipei has since 2022 added a new position titled "Director of Strategic Affairs" to be responsible to conduct direct exchanges with Taiwan's defense ministry and other national security government units.

Taiwan's representative in Australia is also keeping close contact with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on issues related to regional peace and security, Liu added.

The Australian Office in Taipei has not responded to a request for comment from CNA as of press time.

(By Joseph Yeh)

Enditem/ASG