The European Parliament yesterday upheld a ban on arms sales to China, citing Beijing's threats against Taiwan as one of the key justifications for keeping the restrictions.
The parliament, which traditionally takes a strong line on human rights, said it believed "it is the wrong time, in view of the Chinese threats against Taiwan, to open the way to a lifting of the European arms embargo."
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday expressed its welcome for the European Parliament's demand that the EU maintain its arms embargo against China on the grounds of China's poor human rights record.
"It is the fourth time that the European Parliament passed a resolution that rejected proposals to lift the embargo against China. We call on all EU member states to acknowledge the strong desire of the 450 million European people," the MOFA's press release stated.
On Thursday, the assembly voted to continue the embargo, which was initiated by the EU after the Tianamen Square Massacre in 1989. Ninety-nine members opposed for lifting the ban, 2 voted for opening arms sale, and 7 abstained from voting.
Parliamentary deputies across the political spectrum voiced opposition to lifting the embargo in view of Beijing's human rights abuses in Tibet.
Article V of the resolution called on the EU Council of Ministers and the 25 member states "to maintain the European Union embargo on trade in arms with the People's Republic of China and not weaken national restrictions on such arms sales."
The parliament also stressed that the embargo should continue until the EU had adopted a code of conduct providing legal restraints on arms exports, and until China took "concrete measures to improve its human rights situation."
The MOFA responded to the move by saying the resolution "does conform with the good momentum in the development of the EU's refusal to lift the ban since 2003."
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Yilan at 11:05pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter was located at sea, about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km, CWA data showed There were no immediate reports of damage. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Yilan County area on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. It measured 4 in other parts of eastern, northern and central Taiwan as well as Tainan, and 3 in Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, and 2 in Lienchiang and Penghu counties and 1
FOREIGN INTERFERENCE: Beijing would likely intensify public opinion warfare in next year’s local elections to prevent Lai from getting re-elected, the ‘Yomiuri Shimbun’ said Internal documents from a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company indicated that China has been using the technology to intervene in foreign elections, including propaganda targeting Taiwan’s local elections next year and presidential elections in 2028, a Japanese newspaper reported yesterday. The Institute of National Security of Vanderbilt University obtained nearly 400 pages of documents from GoLaxy, a company with ties to the Chinese government, and found evidence that it had apparently deployed sophisticated, AI-driven propaganda campaigns in Hong Kong and Taiwan to shape public opinion, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. GoLaxy provides insights, situation analysis and public opinion-shaping technology by conducting network surveillance
‘POLITICAL GAME’: DPP lawmakers said the motion would not meet the legislative threshold needed, and accused the KMT and the TPP of trivializing the Constitution The Legislative Yuan yesterday approved a motion to initiate impeachment proceedings against President William Lai (賴清德), saying he had undermined Taiwan’s constitutional order and democracy. The motion was approved 61-50 by lawmakers from the main opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the smaller Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), who together hold a legislative majority. Under the motion, a roll call vote for impeachment would be held on May 19 next year, after various hearings are held and Lai is given the chance to defend himself. The move came after Lai on Monday last week did not promulgate an amendment passed by the legislature that
Taiwan is gearing up to celebrate the New Year at events across the country, headlined by the annual countdown and Taipei 101 fireworks display at midnight. Many of the events are to be livesteamed online. See below for lineups and links: Taipei Taipei’s New Year’s Party 2026 is to begin at 7pm and run until 1am, with the theme “Sailing to the Future.” South Korean girl group KARA is headlining the concert at Taipei City Hall Plaza, with additional performances by Amber An (安心亞), Nick Chou (周湯豪), hip-hop trio Nine One One (玖壹壹), Bii (畢書盡), girl group Genblue (幻藍小熊) and more. The festivities are to
RSS