cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/50779967 > […] > > Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te said if China were to take Taiwan, Beijing would become “more aggressive, undermining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific and the rules-based international order.” > > “If Taiwan were annexed by China, China’s expansionist ambitions would not stop there,” Lai told AFP during an exclusive interview on Tuesday at the Presidential Office Building in Taipei. > > “The next countries under threat would be Japan, the Philippines, and others in the Indo-Pacific region, with repercussions eventually reaching the Americas and Europe,” he said. > > […] > > China has competing territorial claims with Japan and the Philippines, while the Taiwan Strait is a major artery for global shipping. > > Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, whose country hosts several US bases and around 60,000 American troops, suggested in November that Tokyo could intervene militarily if China attacked Taiwan, drawing a furious response from Beijing. > > Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos has also warned the archipelago nation, where US troops have access to nine military bases, would “inevitably” be dragged into a war over Taiwan. > > “In this changing world, nations belong to a global community – a situation in any one country would inevitably impact another,” Lai said. > > […]