Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu in a hugely provocative interview with Australian broadcasting ABC's China tonight program warned that Taiwan is preparing for war with China and urged its larger Indo-Pacific neighbor to help.
Wu said his nation will repel any coming attack, "The defense of Taiwan is in our own hands, and we are absolutely committed to that," he told ABC's Stan Grant. The interview is set for broadcast on Monday evening (local time). "If China is going to launch a war against Taiwan we will fight to the end, and that is our commitment." He made an appeal to Australia's leaders for greater support to Taiwan during the growing crisis and showdown.
"I'm sure that if China is going to launch an attack against Taiwan, I think they are going to suffer tremendously as well," Wu threatened. It comes after Friday and Saturday Chinese PLA jet incursions into Taiwan's air defense zone. Friday's breaches saw 38 total jets fly toward Taiwan while Saturday saw 39.
Though Australia doesn't officially recognize the self-ruled island, Wu appealed to leaders in Canberra as follows: "We would like to engage in security or intelligence exchanges with other like-minded partners, Australia included, so Taiwan is better prepared to deal with the war situation."
"And so far, our relations with Australia [are] very good and that is what we appreciate," Wu added.
China has already given a resounding 'response' to these latest provocative statements out of Taiwan, on Monday sending a record-smashing 52 PLA jets to breach southwest defense zone.
Reuters writes of the new Monday breach: "Taiwan's air force scrambled again on Monday to warn away 52 Chinese aircraft that entered its air defense zone, Taiwan's defense ministry said, the largest number to date reported by Taipei and the fourth straight day of Chinese incursions."
At the same time Chinese pundits have downplayed the repeat aerial incursions, which are getting bigger and bigger, as but routine exercises that Beijing has every right to conduct...
Regardless the growing size of the PLA formations - particularly Monday's whopping 52 aircraft - is an unmistakable 'message' and threat to Taipei from Beijing.
Without doubt, the increasingly large incursions which have seen Taiwan scramble it's F-16 fighters and activate anti-air defenses - and ramped up frequency (almost daily at this point) - leaves open the possibility of a 'live fire' incident that could spark major war.
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