TAIPEI (TVBS News) - Kevin Rudd commented on Taiwan and China's current relationship status amid President Xi Jinping's recent statement that the PRC will continue to strive for "peaceful reunification," but the country won't promise to "renounce the use of force."
Speaking with TVBS Commentator Wenchi Yu, The former Prime Minister of Australia said: "I do not want to see a war over Taiwan, I want there to be peace, first and foremost for the people of Taiwan, because there is no such thing as a limited war over Taiwan. It will escalate rapidly into a total war. Hundreds of thousands of people dead, and that is not my idea of a good future. Secondly, a war between the United States and China over Taiwan would be disastrous for China itself," he added, explaining that it is equally possible that China would lose, or possibly prevail, or win militarily.
"And thirdly, such a war would be disastrous to the United States, because we don't know whether the outcome would be to win or lose as well. It would collapse the entire global economy into a depression, which you have the world's two largest economies at war with each other, we haven't seen that for hundreds of years in world history," he continued.
"For those reasons, every one of our efforts should be directed towards a practical, pragmatic way through," he stressed.
Rudd suggested that it would be wise for Taiwan to recommence some form of political dialogue with Beijing and maintain a line of communication, or else the current situation would be very destabilizing for not only the parties directly involved but also the whole world, and a war is not something anyone would like to see.
