The European Parliament's Subcommittee on Human Rights yesterday voiced concern over Taiwan's recent execution of four convicts, saying it could impact on relations with the EU.
Taiwan's ending of a moratorium on the death penalty “will certainly not help improve EU-Taiwan relations and will not help Taiwan in its strive towards greater international recognition,” said a statement issued by subcommittee president Heidi Hautala and subcommittee vice president Laima Andrikiene MEP, who also serves as the vice chairperson of the European Parliament Taiwan Friendship Group.
Over the years, the European Parliament has been supportive of Taiwan's bid to join various international organizations, including a resolution in March backing the nation's participation as an observer in the International Civil Aviation Organization and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
However, Taiwan's execution of four inmates on death row on April 30 — the first time the death penalty had been carried out in the country since December 2005 — has aroused concerns in the EU over what some have described as a setback for efforts the nation has made to abolish capital punishment.
On Saturday, Catherine Ashton, the high representative for foreign affairs and security policy of the EU and the first vice president of the European Commission, issued a statement condemning the executions.
Yesterday's statement by the parliament's subcommittee added that the resumption of executions “acts strongly” against Taiwan's aspirations to join the UN and other international organizations.
Hautala and Andrikiene said Taiwanese officials had said on numerous occasions that they would continue the process of constitutional review of capital punishment, exhaust all other possible remedies for the 44 prisoners on death row and refrain from hastily resuming executions.
However, they “did not keep their pledges,” Hautala and Andrikiene said.
“Nor has the current ruling Kuomintang party made sufficient steps to seek for a cross-party consensus on the abolition of death penalty inside Taiwan,” they said.
Human rights are at the core of EU's value system and the EU places great significance on the defense of human rights, including the right to life, in its external policies, the statement said, adding that the principle of defending human rights worldwide is enshrined in all major EU documents devoted to external policy.
In an e-mail to the Taipei Times on possible fallout of the executions on Taiwan's bid to gain visa-waiver status from the EU, Andrikiene said: “The opponents of Taiwan will exploit every issue that speaks against your country.”
“There is no direct relationship between the visa issue and the death penalty, but when Taiwan's visa-waiver case is discussed in the European Parliament, all issues will become important, especially everything related to human rights,” Andrikiene said.
On March 25, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Shen Lyu-shun (沈呂巡) told the legislature's Foreign and National Defense Committee that he expected Taiwan's request for visa-waiver status to be presented to the European Commission for deliberation within a few weeks, but voiced concern that the death penalty issue could weigh against Taiwan's case.
The ministry said on Tuesday that Taiwan's visa case had not been presented to the commission.
Javier Hou (侯清山), another vice minister of foreign affairs, yesterday told lawmakers that the ministry had not seen any impact from the executions and Taiwan's visa request.
“I don't dare say that is no corelation between the two matters. We can't rule out the possibility, but we hope that it will not happen,” he said.
LIMITS: While China increases military pressure on Taiwan and expands its use of cognitive warfare, it is unwilling to target tech supply chains, the report said US and Taiwan military officials have warned that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could implement a blockade within “a matter of hours” and need only “minimal conversion time” prior to an attack on Taiwan, a report released on Tuesday by the US Senate’s China Economic and Security Review Commission said. “While there is no indication that China is planning an imminent attack, the United States and its allies and partners can no longer assume that a Taiwan contingency is a distant possibility for which they would have ample time to prepare,” it said. The commission made the comments in its annual
DETERMINATION: Beijing’s actions toward Tokyo have drawn international attention, but would likely bolster regional coordination and defense networks, the report said Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration is likely to prioritize security reforms and deterrence in the face of recent “hybrid” threats from China, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said. The bureau made the assessment in a written report to the Legislative Yuan ahead of an oral report and questions-and-answers session at the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The key points of Japan’s security reforms would be to reinforce security cooperation with the US, including enhancing defense deployment in the first island chain, pushing forward the integrated command and operations of the Japan Self-Defense Forces and US Forces Japan, as
IN THE NATIONAL INTEREST: Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu said the strengthening of military facilities would help to maintain security in the Taiwan Strait Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi, visiting a military base close to Taiwan, said plans to deploy missiles to the post would move forward as tensions smolder between Tokyo and Beijing. “The deployment can help lower the chance of an armed attack on our country,” Koizumi told reporters on Sunday as he wrapped up his first trip to the base on the southern Japanese island of Yonaguni. “The view that it will heighten regional tensions is not accurate.” Former Japanese minister of defense Gen Nakatani in January said that Tokyo wanted to base Type 03 Chu-SAM missiles on Yonaguni, but little progress
NO CHANGES: A Japanese spokesperson said that Tokyo remains consistent and open for dialogue, while Beijing has canceled diplomatic engagements A Japanese official blasted China’s claims that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has altered Japan’s position on a Taiwan crisis as “entirely baseless,” calling for more dialogue to stop ties between Asia’s top economies from spiraling. China vowed to take resolute self-defense against Japan if it “dared to intervene militarily in the Taiwan Strait” in a letter delivered Friday to the UN. “I’m aware of this letter,” said Maki Kobayashi, a senior Japanese government spokeswoman. “The claim our country has altered its position is entirely baseless,” she said on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Johannesburg on Saturday. The Chinese Ministry
RSS