New Southbound Policy Portal
The United States Department of State released a joint statement on the 32nd Australia-US Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN) on December 6 (US eastern time). In the statement, the United States and Australia reaffirmed Taiwan’s role as a leading democracy in the Indo-Pacific, an important regional economy, and a crucial player in supply chains. They also reiterated their commitment to preserving peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and shared opposition to unilateral changes in the status quo. The two countries further pledged to work together to support Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations and enhance economic, social, and people-to-people connections with Taiwan. They moreover stated that they would continue to work with Taiwan to strengthen development coordination in the Pacific. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) of the Republic of China (Taiwan) sincerely welcomes and strongly affirms this public expression of solid and comprehensive support for Taiwan by the United States and Australia in their AUSMIN joint statement for the third consecutive year.
In recent months, the United States and other like-minded countries have repeatedly expressed their common stance on maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait through statements and other means. Examples include the US-Australia leaders’ meeting on November 13 and the US-France leaders’ meeting and the high-level meeting of the US-EU Dialogue on China in early December. Statements from these meetings all reiterated the importance of upholding cross-strait peace and stability. These developments underscore Taiwan’s crucially impactful role in the Indo-Pacific on the stability and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific and the world. The statements also highlight a continuous increase in robust support for Taiwan within the democratic community. Taiwan is gaining worldwide attention as a vital Indo-Pacific democratic partner. The Taiwanese government will build on the existing solid foundation and continue to work closely with the United States, Australia, and other like-minded countries to ensure security across the Taiwan Strait, expand Taiwan’s international presence, and safeguard the democratic system, shared values, and the rules-based international order.
Joint Statement on Australia-US Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN) 2022