China’s threat to Taiwan is “more serious than ever,” but the island will stand firm to protect its freedom and democracy — including by welcoming those who support it, Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu told CNN in an interview Monday. Wu’s defiant message came as China said it continued military drills around the self-governing island, after a four-day show of force following US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taipei last week. “China has always been threatening Taiwan for years and it’s getting more serious in the last few years,” Wu said. “Whether Speaker Pelosi visits Taiwan or not, the Chinese military threat against Taiwan has always been there and that is the fact that we need to deal with.” “I worry that China may really launch a war against Taiwan,” he said. “But what it is doing right now is trying to scare us and the best way to deal with it (is) to show to China that we are not scared.” (https://edition.cnn.com/2022/08/08/asia/taiwan-joseph-wu-interview-china-military-drills-intl-hnk/index.html) For Wu, the threat made it even more critical that Taiwan continue to build its international relationships and show it is not afraid.