The US supports Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations, including Interpol, a US Department of State spokesperson said on Tuesday.
The spokesperson made the statement after Taipei said that it was asking friendly nations to speak up at an Interpol executive committee meeting to support Taiwan’s participation at Interpol’s general assembly that opens on Nov. 16 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The spokesperson said Washington supports Taiwan’s participation in international organizations whether or not they require statehood.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
“In organizations that require statehood for membership, the US supports Taiwan’s meaningful participation. This includes the ICAO [International Civil Aviation Organization], Interpol, WHO and the more than 60 international organizations in which Taiwan participates,” the spokesperson said.
The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) on Monday said that it sent a letter to ask that it participate as an observer at the Interpol assembly.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Department of International Organizations Director-General Bob Chen (陳龍錦) on Tuesday said that Interpol had received the letter sent by CIB Commissioner Tsai Tsan-po (蔡蒼柏) last month, but has yet to respond.
Minister of the Interior Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) yesterday told lawmakers that Taiwan’s participation in the assembly would be beneficial for China.
Asked by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Liu Shih-fang (劉世芳) whether former Interpol president and Chinese Deputy Minister of Public Security Meng Hongwei (孟宏偉) being under investigation would give Taiwan a better chance of attending the assembly, Hsu, who was appearing at the Legislative Yuan to report on the government’s drug policy, said the government is trying very hard to make that happen.
The Department of State’s expression of support for Taiwan’s participation was a strong boost for the nation’s effort to attend the assembly, he said.
Asked by People First Party Legislator Chen Yi-chieh (陳怡潔) whether the government has received a response from Interpol, Hsu said it has not.
China’s obstruction is the only thing preventing Taiwan from taking part in the assembly, he said, adding that it has a great effect on global efforts to fight crime, such as the smuggling of illegal drugs.
Blocking Taiwan from participating in the assembly does not benefit the investigation of cross-border crimes in any way, he said.
More than 70 percent of illegal drugs circulating in Taiwan originate in China, he said.
He urged Beijing to allow Taiwan to join Interpol, adding that doing so would be helpful for maintaining peace around the world.
Asked by Liu whether a mechanism is in place for cross-strait cooperation against crime, National Police Agency Director-General Chen Ja-chin (陳家欽) said that while the two sides are still cooperating on individual cases, these instances have become fewer.
The cases on which Taiwan and China are working more closely are fraud cases, which affect the property and safety of Taiwanese and Chinese, he said.
The two sides have also been working together in the fight against illegal drugs, he added.
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
Taiwan yesterday denied Chinese allegations that its military was behind a cyberattack on a technology company in Guangzhou, after city authorities issued warrants for 20 suspects. The Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau earlier yesterday issued warrants for 20 people it identified as members of the Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM). The bureau alleged they were behind a May 20 cyberattack targeting the backend system of a self-service facility at the company. “ICEFCOM, under Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, directed the illegal attack,” the warrant says. The bureau placed a bounty of 10,000 yuan (US$1,392) on each of the 20 people named in
The High Court yesterday found a New Taipei City woman guilty of charges related to helping Beijing secure surrender agreements from military service members. Lee Huei-hsin (李慧馨) was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for breaching the National Security Act (國家安全法), making illegal compacts with government employees and bribery, the court said. The verdict is final. Lee, the manager of a temple in the city’s Lujhou District (蘆洲), was accused of arranging for eight service members to make surrender pledges to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in exchange for money, the court said. The pledges, which required them to provide identification
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the
RSS