Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong on Aug. 5 called out the China for its “destabilizing” live-fire drills near Taiwan, noting that Australia will monitor the situation closely.
“Australia is deeply concerned about the launch of ballistic missiles by China into waters around Taiwan’s coastline,” Wong said in a statement. “These exercises are disproportionate and destabilizing.”
The foreign minister said both Australia and its close strategic partner Japan see China’s military drills as a “serious matter for the region.”
“We urge restraint and de-escalation,” Wong said. “It is in all our interests to have a region at peace and not in conflict. Australia does not want to see any unilateral change to the status quo across the Taiwan Strait.”…