France-Australia 2+2 Joint Statement Reaffirms Importance of Peace, Stability in Taiwan Strait

According to Taiwan media reports, France and Australia announced on January 30 their second joint statement-Australia-France Foreign and Defense Ministerial Consultations-after August 2021, which includes reaffirming support for Taiwan’s participation in international organizations and deepening relations with Taiwan. Compared to the first statement, the second statement has significantly upgraded its Taiwan-friendly rhetoric. Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs today expressed its high welcome and recognition of this. This demonstrates the two governments’ firm stance on friendship with Taiwan and highlights that peace in the Taiwan Strait is an indispensable part of the stability and prosperity of the international community. According to article 24 of the text published by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it clearly states “Ministers underscored the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and called for the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues through dialogue without the threat or use of force or coercion. They reaffirmed their shared opposition to unilateral changes to the status quo. They committed to working together to support Taiwan’s meaningful participation in the work of international organizations, where statehood is not a prerequisite, and reiterated their will to continue deepening relations with Taiwan in the economic, scientific, trade, technological and cultural fields.” The second statement clearly elevated support for Taiwan, which Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said was a continuation of Taiwan-friendly rhetorical positions, such as France’s 2022 national strategy report, the new version of the Indo-Pacific strategy, a Japan-France two-plus-two talks, and French Foreign Minister Ms. Catherine Colonna’s repeated public opposition to unilateral changes to the status quo in the Taiwan Strait, etc. In the future, Taiwan will continue to deepen cooperative relations with like-minded international partners and work to achieve common goals and aspirations.

Most democracies around the world are displaying different formulations of “One China,” and working together to preserve Taiwan’s democratic freedom and independence is strategically important to counteract the evil CCP.