Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to Australia is urging the Albanese government to include the island in the AUKUS security pact, as he warned China’s coercive behaviour and military activity in the Pacific should ring alarm bells.
Douglas Hsu, Taiwan’s top representative in Australia, also warned that Chinese-made electric cars posed cybersecurity risks and said Beijing was trying to project military force across the region.
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“Last year, they launched long-range missiles into the South Pacific, and earlier this year they sent naval vessels surrounding Australia,” Hsu told The Australian Financial Review, referring to a Chinese naval taskforce’s circumnavigation of Australia in February and March.
“I don’t think they have any business ties with Antarctica. So why do they send their naval ship here in this region? I think that is the way they are showcasing their defence capacities, and that is certainly alarming to all the countries in the region.”
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Conceding it was a sensitive topic, Hsu said the Taiwanese government had expressed interest in joining Pillar II of AUKUS given the island’s capabilities in high-end technology, including artificial intelligence and quantum computing.
“With the capacity of Taiwan in manufacturing, we believe that we have the strength working with other countries, especially in AUKUS Pillar II, to advance those defence and technologies to the next level, so we believe that Taiwan can be helpful,” he said.
Pillar II of AUKUS – the technology stream of the pact – commits Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States to jointly accelerate the development of advanced capabilities including quantum computing, artificial intelligence, undersea warfare and hypersonic missiles.
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[Edit to include the archived link.]