Taipei: Taiwan is calling on Australia to send a military attache to the island so that both sides can share their assessment of the situation with China, Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu told The Australian newspaper on Sunday.
I think it is very important when the Australian government is paying so much more attention to the regional security issues for the two countries to be able to share their observations, their assessment of the situation, Wu said in an interview.
The newspaper specified that the United States, Japan and Singapore have long placed their attaches on the island in order to maintain communication with Taiwanese intelligence services.
Wu added that Taiwan also wanted to send a military attache to the Canberra office.
Taiwan has been governed independently from mainland China since 1949. Beijing regards the island as its province, while Taiwan maintains that it is an autonomous entity but stops short of declaring independence.
Beijing opposes any official foreign contacts with Taipei and regards Chinese sovereignty over the island as indisputable.
The latest escalation around Taiwan took place in April after Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen met with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Beijing responded by launching massive three-day military drills near the island in what it called a warning to Taiwanese separatists and foreign powers.
(With UNI inputs)
