TAIPEI (Taiwan News) -- After a petition calling for the U.S. to purchase Taiwan surfaced on Tuesday (Aug. 27) on the White House's petition website, Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today (Aug. 29) said Taiwan is "not for sale."

Two weeks ago, U.S. President Donald Trump started to seem to seriously consider buying Greenland from Denmark. However, on Aug. 18 Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called the idea an "absurd discussion," prompting Trump to announce on Aug. 20 that with Greenland off the table, he would cancel the September visit to Denmark.

A week later, on Tuesday, a person only identified as "C.C." posted a petition titled "Purchase Taiwan" on the White House's petition website "We the People." In the petition, the author referred to Taiwan as "the unsinkable aircraft carrier" and an integral part of the U.S.-Indo-Pacific strategy.

Hinting at Communist China's constant threats of invading Taiwan, the petition describes the country as being on the "frontline of the free world's battle against tyranny and oppression" as it struggles to stave off an "authoritarian regime bent on annexing it." The petition points out that Taiwan shares the values of "democracy, freedom, human rights, and the rule of law" with Americans.

The petitioner claims that the purchase of Taiwan would buttress U.S. security and interests in the Asia-Pacific and "protect Taiwanese people from Communism." The petition closes by saying "Instead of Greenland, purchase Taiwan to create a win-win situation," the latter ironically being an overused term by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) when making lopsided deals in its favor.

The petition leaves out many key details, such as whom exactly the U.S. would be purchasing Taiwan from. Thus far, the petition has a less-than-impressive 575 signatures, making it 99,425 signatures short of its goal of 100,000 by Sept. 26.

At a regularly scheduled press conference held today, MOFA spokesperson Joanne Ou (歐江安) said that Taiwan's Indo-Pacific strategy plays an indispensable role in promoting regional freedom, openness, stability, and prosperity, and "Taiwan is not for sale" (台灣是非賣品). Ou said Taiwan is also a sovereign, independent country with its own government, armed forces, and substantive diplomatic ties with more than 100 countries and 17 diplomatic allies, "which cannot be purchased by any country."

Ou pointed out that at only a little over 500 signatures, the petition has a long way to go before reaching the 100,000 threshold to elicit a response from the White House, much less incorporated into U.S. policy. Nevertheless, Ou said MOFA will closely monitor the situation and subsequent developments.

The full text of the petition can be seen below: