Calling on the international community to oppose China's "anti-secession" law and take note of the threat Taiwan faces, the nation's top diplomat yesterday urged the world not to stand idly by as it did when Adolf Hitler slaughtered millions of Jews in Auschwitz.
"Do not think that this threat is none of your business because it is happening in Taiwan. Why were millions of Jews killed in Auschwitz? That happened because many countries simply stood idly by while Hitler committed the atrocity," Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen (
Chen and Mainland Affairs Council Vice Chairman David Huang (
More than 60 diplomats attended the meeting, but insiders said few asked questions after Chen and Huang explained Taiwan's concerns about the law. The diplomats were tight-lipped when asked by reporters about their countries' opinions on the Chinese law.
Talking to reporters after the meeting, Chen said the world's reaction to the anti-secession law was overwhelmingly negative.
"According to information collected by our overseas representative offices, most countries oppose China resorting to non-peaceful means to deal with Taiwan," he said.
The Chinese legislation enables many countries, which often regard Taiwan as the troublemaker in cross-strait relations, to "see the authoritarian side of China," the minister said.
"Now they have seen the true face of China and know that Taiwan is a peace-loving country. We never want to provoke China and will never do so," he said.
Despite the ministry's strenuous lobbying of the international community to oppose the legislation, China passed the law on Monday. Chen urged the world community to take action against the law.
Meanwhile, the EU on Monday reacted with concern about the anti-secession law and urged China and Taiwan to talk.
"The EU urges all sides to avoid unilateral actions, which can increase tensions," said a declaration published on Monday by the EU Council president, currently occupied by Luxembourg.
"The union would be very concerned if the passage of this law, which threatens violent means, would destroy the newest moves toward rapprochement of the two sides," the EU said.
The EU urged China and Taiwan to return to a "constructive dialogue," the only path that can be of use to both sides.
Beijing and Taipei should continue to communicate and take the initiative along the lines of the agreement made earlier this year to establish direct flights, the statement said.
The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Monday that France supported China's unification with Taiwan but said it could be achieved only through a peaceful resolution.
The Central News Agency on Sunday quoted a French diplomat, who requested anonymity, as saying that France opposed all moves that would unilaterally change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait.
The diplomat declined to comment about whether the new law would change the EU's position on lifting its arms embargo on China, saying EU countries would continue discussing the issue.
Australia's Prime Minister John Howard was vague yesterday about how his country might react to a war between China and Taiwan, a day after foreign minister Alexander Downer said Australia would not necessarily back the US if it were drawn into such a conflict.
Howard sidestepped the issue by saying he did not believe there would be any military conflict.
"I don't think anything is achieved by hypothesizing about something which I don't think is going to happen and something that it is in Australia's interests to do everything we can to prevent happening," Howard said.
"Everybody knows that Australia has no closer ally than the US ... Everybody knows also that we have developed a good relationship with China," he said.
DETERRENCE: With 1,000 indigenous Hsiung Feng II and III missiles and 400 Harpoon missiles, the nation would boast the highest anti-ship missile density in the world With Taiwan wrapping up mass production of Hsiung Feng II and III missiles by December and an influx of Harpoon missiles from the US, Taiwan would have the highest density of anti-ship missiles in the world, a source said yesterday. Taiwan is to wrap up mass production of the indigenous anti-ship missiles by the end of year, as the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology has been meeting production targets ahead of schedule, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said. Combined with the 400 Harpoon anti-ship missiles Taiwan expects to receive from the US by 2028, the nation would have
POSSIBILITIES EMERGE: With Taiwan’s victory and Japan’s narrow win over Australia, Taiwan now have a chance to advance if South Korea also beat the Aussies Taiwan has high hopes that the national baseball team would advance to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarter-finals after clinching a crucial 5-4 victory over South Korea in a nail-biting extra-inning game at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Boosted by three home runs — two solo shots by Yu Chang (張育成) and Cheng Tsung-che (鄭宗哲) and a two-run homer by Stuart Fairchild — the triumph gave Taiwan a much-needed second victory in the five-team Pool C, where only the top two finishers would advance to the knockout stage in Miami, Florida. Entering extra innings with the game tied at four apiece, Taiwan scored
MISSION OF PEACE: The foreign minister urged Beijing to respect Taiwan’s existence as an independent nation, and work together to ensure peace and stability in the region Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday rejected Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi’s (王毅) comments about Taiwan, criticizing China as a “troublemaker” in the international community and a disruptor of cross-strait peace. Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the Chinese National People’s Congress, Wang said that Taiwan has always been a territory of China and that it would be impossible for it to become its own country. The “return” of Taiwan to China was the natural outcome of the Chinese people’s resistance against Japan in World War II, and that any pursuit of independence was “doomed
‘UNWAVERING FRIENDSHIP’: A representative of a Japanese group that co-organized a memorial, said he hopes Japanese never forget Taiwan’s kindness President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday marked the 15th anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, urging continued cooperation between Taiwan and Japan on disaster prevention and humanitarian assistance. Lai wrote on social media that Taiwan and Japan have always helped each other in the aftermath of major disasters. The magnitude 9 earthquake struck northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011, triggering a massive tsunami that claimed more than 19,000 lives, according to data from Japanese authorities. Following the disaster, Taiwan donated more than US$240 million in aid, making it one of the largest contributors of financial assistance to Japan. In addition to cash donations and
RSS