TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi criticized former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating’s claim that Taiwan is “Chinese real estate” as a “stupid statement to make.”
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Aug. 8 released an interview with Keating in which he said “Taiwan is not a vital Australian interest” and compared US military aid to Taiwan to China helping Tasmania secede from Australia. On Tuesday (Aug. 13), ABC published an interview with Pelosi in which she rebuffed Keating's remarks and suggested Beijing may influence him.
When asked why Australia should not participate in the AUKUS agreement, Keating claimed that China has “no strategic designs upon Australia.” He said that the motivation behind the alliance is “the Chinese laying claim to Taiwan, and the Americans are going to say 'no, no, we're going to keep these Taiwanese people protected', even though they're sitting on Chinese real estate.”
In Pelosi's rebuttal to Keating's comments, she condemned his “Chinese real estate” claim as “ridiculous.” She emphasized that Taiwan “is not Chinese real estate and he should know that.”
Pelosi said “Taiwan is Taiwan” and its people have a democracy and admonished Keating's real estate claim as a “stupid statement to make.” Casting suspicion on Keating's potential ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Pelosi said “I don't know what his connection is to China that he would say such a thing.”
The former speaker stressed that such statements are “really not in the security interest of the Asian-Pacific region for people to talk that way.”
When asked to comment on Keating's claims on Friday (Aug. 9), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Taiwan News, “Taiwan, the Republic of China, is a sovereign and independent country that is not affiliated with the People’s Republic of China.” It added that Taiwan “will not change its status as a sovereign country because of the biased speech of a few international figures who ignore the current international situation."
