The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) would welcome support from Japan and the EU for Taiwan’s bid to gain “meaningful participation” in UN agencies, MOFA spokesman Henry Chen (陳銘政) said yesterday.
Naohiro Tsutsumi, general affairs department chief at the Taipei office of Japan’s Interchange Association, said a day earlier that Japan acknowledged and respected Taiwan’s efforts to participate in the UN.
Tsutsumi said that on condition that all parties are satisfied, Japan supported Taiwan’s efforts to obtain observer status in the World Health Assembly (WHA), the supreme decision-making body of the WHO.
Japan also supported Taiwan’s attempts to expand participation in WHO technical-level meetings, he said.
Tsutsumi said that Japan’s stance on supporting Taiwan’s participation in the WHA would not change, but he said that Japan would study whether to support Taiwan’s participation in other UN agencies on a case-by-case basis.
Meanwhile, Javier Solana, EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, has repeated the EU’s support for Taiwan’s participation in UN-affiliated agencies in letters written to two European Parliament members on Monday.
A request put forward by Taiwan’s diplomatic allies to include the issue as a supplementary item on the agenda of the 63rd session of the UN General Assembly was rejected on Sept. 17 by the UN General Committee, again because of China’s opposition.
The US mission to the UN released a statement late that day to show support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in UN agencies.
The EU also expressed its support for Taiwan’s participation in multilateral forums on Sept. 19.
Chen said the support showed that Taiwan’s bid for meaningful participation in UN agencies has gained approval in the international community.
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) today released images of the military tracking China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) movements during the latest round of Chinese drills around Taiwan. The PLA began "Justice Mission 2025" drills today, carrying out live-fire drills, simulated strikes on land and maritime targets, and exercises to blockade the nation's main ports. The exercises are to continue tomorrow, with the PLA announcing sea and air space restrictions for five zones around Taiwan for 10 hours starting from 8:30am. The ministry today released images showing a Chinese J-16 fighter jet tracked by a F-16V Block 20 jet and the
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