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EXCLUSIVE: Taiwan’s foreign minister says China has “clearly become a troublemaker that is maliciously attempting to disrupt the cross-strait status quo and intimidate peaceful countries.”
In exclusive comments to Fox News Digital, Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung said China’s intensifying “authoritarian expansionism not only directly threatens Taiwan’s security and democratic system but also poses significant challenges to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region and around the world.”
“Last June,” Lin said, “[Chinese] aircraft carriers Liaoning and Shandong maneuvered beyond the second island chain, marking China’s first simultaneous, dual-carrier deployment into the Western Pacific. These developments demonstrate that Beijing’s expansionist ambitions extend far beyond Taiwan and pose an increasingly serious threat to the security and stability of the Indo-Pacific region and the world.”
Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung answers questions from media during an international press briefing in Taipei on July 19, 2024. (Photo by I-Hwa Cheng/Afp via Getty Images)
Communist China was founded in 1949 and has not ruled Taiwan for a single day. Officially known as the Republic of China, Taiwan is currently recognized by eleven small countries, plus the Holy See. Beijing nonetheless rejects the reality of nearly 80 years of separate rule, describing Taiwan as a “sacred and inseparable part of China’s territory.”
China’s posture toward independently ruled Taiwan has hardened in recent years as President Xi Jinping removed term limits and consolidated near-total power. While earlier Chinese statements included talk of “peaceful unification,” Beijing now openly threatens to use force.
In 2024, Xi directed the Chinese military to complete preparations for a Taiwan operation by 2027. Most defense analysts agree that an invasion would be costly, bloody and highly risky for China, Taiwan and any countries that come to Taiwan’s aid, such as the United States or Japan.
Images newly released by the Department capture a PLA fighter jet closing in at a high speed to a distance of just 50 feet underneath the wing of a U.S. aircraft. The PLA operator then conducted a barrel roll around and below the U.S. aircraft, causing the U.S. pilot to perform defensive procedures to prevent a collision. (Department of Defense)
Lin echoed those warnings that a conflict in the Taiwan Strait would reverberate worldwide. “Peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait are vital to global security and prosperity,” Lin said, noting that approximately 90% of the world’s most advanced semiconductors are produced in Taiwan and that roughly 50% of global commercial shipping passes through the strait. He added that Taiwan is grateful to the United States and other partners for resisting China’s efforts to unilaterally alter the status quo.
The foreign minister said Taiwan’s central role in geopolitics, technology and supply chains ensures that Washington places a high priority on cross-strait stability. He said U.S. policymakers understand that Taiwan’s semiconductor industry and related supply chains are critical to American economic security.
CHINA SURROUNDS TAIWAN WITH WARSHIPS, FIGHTER JETS IN LARGEST MILITARY DRILLS ON RECORD
A nuclear-powered Type 094A Jin-class ballistic missile submarine of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) navy is seen during a military display in the South China Sea April 12, 2018. (Reuters/Stringer)
“There is clear strategic continuity between the policies of President Trump’s first and second terms,” said Lin, adding that Taiwan’s government will seek ways to coordinate with the United States “through values-based, alliance and economic diplomacy.”
Commenting on Washington’s Indo-Pacific strategy, Lin said, “The Trump administration and U.S. Congress continue to demonstrate a steadfast commitment to safeguarding peace and security across the Indo-Pacific region,” Lin said, “which was emphasized in the 2025 National Security Strategy (NSS).” The foreign minister also noted that “the recent NSS released by the Trump administration underscored Taiwan’s geopolitical importance as a link between the Northeast and Southeast Asian theaters.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, reviews the troops during his inspection of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army PLA garrison stationed in the Macao Special Administrative Region, south China, Dec. 20, 2024. (Li Gang/Xinhua via Getty Images)
Lin said Taiwan is working to rebalance trade with the United States while strengthening strategic cooperation on AI. “The Trump administration’s AI Action Plan,” he said, “underscores the importance of innovation, infrastructure and international cooperation for AI development.”
He also touted Taiwan’s growing investments in the U.S., including a $165 billion commitment by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) in Arizona, and said Taipei is working to make it easier for Taiwanese companies trying to invest in the U.S.. “Against the backdrop of U.S.-China strategic competition and the restructuring of global supply chains,” said Lin, “Taiwan’s enterprises understand the remarkable potential of investing in the United States.”
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Lin Chia-lung, now Taiwan’s foreign minister, speaks to reporters as then cabinet spokesman on Wednesday, March 24, 2004. (David Hartung/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The foreign minister said Taiwan appreciates increasing American military support, highlighting that “Last December, the United States approved an arms sales package to Taiwan totaling $11 billion as well as signing the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act and the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026. These measures underscore the firm bipartisan support for Taiwan in the U.S. government.”
But he stressed that Taiwan is accelerating its own defense investments. “Last year, [Taiwan] President Lai Ching-te announced that Taiwan’s defense budget would increase to over 3% of GDP by 2026 and rise to 5% by 2030,” he said. While parts of that plan have faced resistance in the opposition-led legislature, both major parties have publicly backed closer security cooperation with the United States and a stronger deterrence posture.
