Former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has given his political backing to Taiwan with a symbolic visit to the island in which he claimed its «right to exist in freedom and peace», regardless of China’s pressures.
«I am in Taiwan to give my resounding support for its right to decide for itself its future,» Rasmussen told Taiwanese President Tsai Ing Wen on the second of a three-day visit to the island. «Taiwan is a strong democracy that belongs to the family of democracies in the world,» he added.
Tsai pledged to Rasmussen that Taiwan will continue to increase defense spending and cooperate with international allies to safeguard peace, security and stability throughout the Indo-Pacific region, a recurrent source of tensions.
BEIJING CRITICIZES JOURNEY Rasmussen currently heads the Alliance of Democracies Foundation, after stepping down in 2017 as NATO chief. The former Danish prime minister is the first former Atlantic Alliance leader to visit Taiwan, whose sovereignty Beijing continues to claim.
The Chinese government has criticized Rasmussen’s trip through a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Mao Ning, who described Taiwan as «an inalienable part of China.» «The Taiwan issue is not about democracy or human rights,» but about «the reunification and sovereignty of China,» Mao said.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
