The nation's representative to the UK yesterday called for the EU to formulate a law or framework to help stabilize security in the Taiwan Strait along the lines of the US' Taiwan Relations Act.
"We believe there is a need for a law that provides a structure or a principle for stabilizing relations and security in the Taiwan Strait," Edgar Lin (林俊義) said. "The last thing we want to see is the EU making political gestures in the event of a conflict occurring in the Taiwan Strait."
Lin made the remarks in a report to the legislature's Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs Committee on bilateral relations between Taiwan and the UK.
Lin said Taiwan interacts positively with the UK in the areas of trade and culture.
Trade
For instance, he said, the UK is the nation's third-largest trade partner in Europe.
It is estimated that bilateral trade reached US$5.29 billion last year, with Taiwan's exports to Britain totalling US$3.51 billion and imports from Britain amounting to US$1.78 billion.
The number of Taiwanese students studying in Britain stands at more than 15,000, accounting for 25 percent of the total number of Taiwanese students studying overseas.
Britain has become the second most-popular destination for students pursuing further education after the US, he added.
`Conservative'
But politically, the UK takes a more conservative attitude toward Taiwan because it strictly adheres to Beijing's "one China" policy.
Saying that the UK plays an important role in the EU, Lin added that Taiwan should work to increase UK support and concern on security issues in the Taiwan Strait, including asserting pressure on China rather than appeasing it, and by refusing to lift the arms embargo on China.
Reviewing their acceptance of the "fallacy" that is Beijing's "one China" policy and requesting China stop suppressing freedom of religion and human rights would also help, he noted.
"We should highlight the absurdity of China asserting in the international community that it has unilateral authority on issues of cross-strait security," Lin said.
Lin, however, added that parliamentary exchanges between the two countries had borne fruit.
The number of members of a pro-Taiwan group within the British parliament has increased to 51 from 17 in May 2005.
Taiwan's legislature also established a Taiwan-British parliamentary group in April 24, which now has 36 members, he added.
Additional reporting by CNA
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
RSS