Ex-Australian PM says Taiwan's fate crucial to global security

Taipei, Oct. 8 (CNA) Former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison warned Wednesday that the world cannot afford to ignore Taiwan's security, saying that bringing the democracy under China's authoritarian rule would have global repercussions.

Speaking at the 2025 Taipei Security Dialogue, Morrison stressed that "Taiwan matters to the world," adding that maintaining the status quo across the Taiwan Strait is essential for the "security, prosperity and sovereignty" of countries like Australia, the United States and Japan.

"If Taiwan were to be forcibly placed under the authoritarian rule of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), there would not be a corner of the globe that would be unaffected," said Morrison, who served as Australia's 30th prime minister from 2018 to 2022, during his keynote address at the one-day forum.

Once that happens, the First Island Chain "breaks" when the U.S. pushes back to the Second Island Chain, "diminishing their ability to provide an effective security counterbalance in the Indo-Pacific," the former Australian leader said.

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) will then have the ability to project air, naval, missile, cyber, space, and surveillance capabilities through the Bashi Channel and Miyako Strait into the Philippine Sea, he said.

"Maritime and air traffic between Japan and South Korea and Southeast Asia must pass near and through effectively PRC-controlled borders and airspace."

To prevent that outcome, Morrison called on democracies around the world to stand united and to strengthen collective deterrence through new initiatives and partnerships such as AUKUS -- a trilateral security partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States -- which he said can help counter the CCP's ambitions "to establish regional hegemony over the Indo-Pacific."

He noted that Taiwan has made progress in boosting its defense capabilities through collaboration with the U.S., including the acquisition of Javelin and Stinger missiles, Harpoon coastal defense systems, and mine-laying and switchblade loitering munitions, along with the development of indigenous missiles.

However, he said there is still a long way to go.

Also speaking at the forum, Matt Schlapp, former political director to U.S. President George W. Bush and chairman of the American Conservative Union, said that the once "unique relationship between the people of Taiwan and the people of America" has weakened over time.

He blamed "propaganda within America and propaganda overseas" for creating the perception that the U.S. is less supportive of Taiwan in recent years.

Schlapp emphasized that the reality is different, telling the audience that "we want to increase the intensity of the relationship between our two fine countries" and that "we have a security partnership that should not be diminished, that President Trump understands that he's an ally in that fight."

The 2025 Taipei Security Dialogue was organized by the National Defense and Security Research (INDSR), a government-funded think tank.

The annual forum brings together experts and leaders from the U.S., the U.K., Germany, Japan and Australia to address the threat posed by China to peace in the Indo-Pacific and to explore ways democracies can enhance cooperation to uphold regional stability, according to the INDSR.