Republic of Korea (ROK) Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yul and Minister of National Defense Shin Won-sik met with Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles for the Australia-ROK 2+2 Foreign and Defense Ministers Meeting in Melbourne on May 1. The joint statement issued after the meeting noted that preserving peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait was an indispensable element of security and prosperity in the region. It also affirmed the need to promote open channels of communication, transparency, and practical measures to reduce the risk of conflict in the Indo-Pacific and underlined the importance of responsibly managing strategic competition.
In the meeting, Australia and the ROK discussed their shared interest in promoting regional peace and stability, deepening cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and globally, and strengthening the national defense and security of both countries under their comprehensive strategic partnership. Both sides also recognized the contribution of the AUKUS trilateral defense partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States to peace and stability in the region.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China (Taiwan) highly commends and sincerely welcomes the first such public expression of support for the status quo of cross-strait peace and stability in the joint statement following an Australia-ROK 2+2 meeting.
Building on these solid foundations, the government of Taiwan will continue to work closely with Australia, the ROK, and other like-minded countries to safeguard peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, defend common values such as democracy and freedom, uphold the rules-based international order, and jointly advance peace, security, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.
