Yes, thank you for your wonderful question.
I would say that China right now is actually seeking a great-power status, not only in the Arctic but also in the Indo-Pacific, of course. If we follow this line of reasoning, we can see that in the past few years, especially from 2014 until 2022, China intervened in Taiwan's engagement with its international friends and Taiwan's participation in international organizations. I would say China is actually playing a role as a disrupter to some degree when Taiwan tries to engage actively with the international community.
In the past, in terms of bilateral relations, you can see that China tried to...I wouldn't say “bribe”, but they actually put a higher bid to win over our diplomatic allies. In international organizations, China tried very hard to exclude Taiwan's participation.
In the past few years, Taiwan adapted to this situation. We try very hard to collaborate with like-minded countries, for example through the GCTF. Right now, Canada is also part of this framework for co-operation. This is a very good development for Taiwan to be seen and also for the international community to have a better opportunity to cope with the global issues such as disaster relief and humanitarian assistance. Those are quite important issues in the Indo-Pacific area.
I would say that I totally agree with Professor Huebert because China always has a long-term perspective on those kinds of things. What kind of status is China looking for? I believe at the end of the day they want to become number one in the world.
From Taiwan's perspective, for now I would say maybe we need to work together to shape what China wants and let China know that China's decision would have consequences, and we keep our own word and we follow through with our commitment. Then we can help to shape China's intentions in the future.