China wants to “intimidate” the island and “destroy its democracy”, deplores Taiwan’s representative in France

The Taiwanese vote on Saturday to elect their president and their parliamentarians, votes in the context of the crisis between this island state and communist China.

Taiwan elects its next president, under the ever-so-heavy threat of Beijing. “We counted 1,800 Chinese incursions in 2023“, declared the representative of Taiwan in France, François Wu, Saturday January 13 on franceinfo. “This is China’s method to intimidate Taiwan and also to destroy Taiwan’s democracy”, he laments. 19 million voters are called to the polls to elect the president and Parliament of this small island state off the coast of China.

franceinfo: Why is this election so important?

François Wu: Chinese President Xi Jinping has a very big ambition: to get his hands on Taiwan and take control, for example, of semiconductors produced in Taiwan. China also has ambitions to compete with the Americans in the Pacific Ocean, and Taiwan is really the ideal place to do it.

China would like Taiwan to become a Chinese province again, even if it means using force?

Yes, that’s the issue. China really wants to control Taiwan like it did Hong Kong. It does not allow a democracy to truly be born in a Chinese-speaking society.

This Chinese threat translates into a military and psychological war, because there are permanent military incursions from Beijing?

Quite. In 2022, there have been 2,000 Chinese military incursions. In 2023, there were 1,800. Even today, voting day, the Chinese sent fighter planes to make incursions. They also sent balloons as was done in the United States. This is China’s method to intimidate Taiwan and also to destroy Taiwan’s democracy.

Are the Taiwanese preparing for war?

We are trying to prepare for war. But Taiwan’s security is not limited to the military domain. There is also the structure of the international community which is very important, 60% of the world’s containers pass through the Formosa Strait. So I believe that there is a sort of international understanding that wants to dissuade China from taking unilateral military action.

If a war breaks out, or if China regains control of Taiwan, will that have economic consequences across the entire planet?

60%, even 70% of semiconductors used worldwide are manufactured in Taiwan. This figure rises to 92% for the most sophisticated semiconductors. The Americans asked Taiwan to set up a factory in the United States, Japan did so, and Taiwan decided to set up a factory in Germany in 2023. That’s the issue.