Taiwan Foreign Minister: "China Disparages Democracy with False Information"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] Wu Zhaoxie, Taiwan's Minister of Foreign Affairs, who is visiting Europe, criticized China for disparaging democratic systems with false information.

According to major foreign media on the 26th (local time), Minister Wu said in a speech at an event hosted by a local think tank in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, the first country on his European tour, "Recovery from COVID-19 shows that democratic countries must unite and strengthen cooperation with each other."

His remarks targeted China's claims that a socialist system with state control is superior to democratic systems amid the chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Minister Wu emphasized that Taiwan and Slovakia share values of freedom, rule of law, and human rights, and urged ideologically close partners to strengthen multifaceted cooperation based on the current favorable foundation.

Foreign media reported that this is the first time since his 2019 speech in Copenhagen, Denmark, that Taiwan's Minister of Foreign Affairs has given a public speech in Europe.

Minister Wu plans to visit European countries friendly to Taiwan, such as Slovakia and the Czech Republic, and attend the 'Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC)' meeting scheduled to be held in Rome, Italy, on the 29th.

Amid conflicts between China and the European Union (EU) Parliament, there is analysis that Taiwan is trying to expand its diplomatic landscape as much as possible through Minister Wu's European tour.

Since the pro-independence administration of Tsai Ing-wen took office, Taiwan has been under comprehensive pressure from China, but with active support from the United States, it is expanding its diplomatic space by pursuing participation in the UN system.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.