China threatens to downgrade ties with "Israel"
After Israeli media published an interview with the Taiwanese Foreign Minister, referring to him in an official capacity, China threatens to downgrade relations with "Israel".
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Taiwan's Foreign Minister being interviewed by JPost's Editor-in-Chief
Israeli media outlet The Jerusalem Post published an interview Monday with Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, in which the latter claimed that China was getting ready to invade it, and warning "Israel" not to trust Beijing.
In the article, Wu called China "authoritarian", saying it uses "trade as a weapon", and that "Israel" shouldn't allow business relations with an "authoritarian" country to jeopardize its national security.
Moreover, Wu claimed that the Chinese military threat against Taiwan has been "increasing tremendously" in recent months, citing violations of Taiwan's air-defense identification zones and Chinese disinformation campaigns.
China considers Taiwan to be an inalienable part of its territory, especially since Taiwan is not recognized as being an independent country. Beijing has been recognized as the formal representative of China in international circles since 1971, at which point Taiwan left the UN by default, and has not been recognized since then.
Read more: Explaining Taiwan: The Balance of Relations between the US and China
The Jerusalem Post's interview with Wu came a week after a warning issued by US President Joe Biden against China, saying that it was "flirting with danger" over Taiwan, and promised to intervene militarily against China if Taipei were attacked.
In the article, Wu warned "Israel" that it was relying too much on China, and that it should not make concessions to Beijing.
Following the publication of this article, The Jerusalem Post's Editor-in-Chief tweeted that he received a call from the Chinese embassy, asking him to take down the article, or Beijing will cut ties with the paper, and downgrade ties with "Israel", the reason ostensibly being giving the 'breakaway region' of Taiwan a voice that would lend it legitimacy amid the US' push to arm it with weapons to combat China.
Didn’t take long. Got call from Chinese embassy. Apparently I’m supposed to take down the story or they will sever ties with the @Jerusalem_Post and downgrade relations with the State of Israel. Needless to say, story ain’t going anywhere. https://t.co/BypRMTbc6W
— Yaakov Katz (@yaakovkatz) May 30, 2022
It is noteworthy that it hasn't been a month yet since famed Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was deliberately killed by Israeli occupation forces as she was covering the IOF's storming of the Jenin refugee camp.
"Israel" still refuses to acknowledge any role played by its forces in the journalist's murder, and regularly arrests Palestinian journalists to silence them.
