Taiwan’s participation at the International Criminal Police Organization’s (Interpol) annual summit in Indonesia in November has been obstructed, the Criminal Investigation Bureau said yesterday.
The bureau has not received an invitation from Interpol and attempts to take part in the summit have “not gone well,” bureau Deputy Director Lu Chun-chang (呂春長) said at a question-and-answer session of the legislature’s Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee.
The nation is seeking to attend the summit as an observer, a role that is supported by members of the US Senate and House of Representatives, with US President Barack Obama signing a bill in March ensuring US support for Taiwan’s attendance, Lu said, adding that Taiwan’s diplomatic allies have also attempted to facilitate the nation’s participation.
However, those initiatives have not helped secure an invitation, he said.
Lu’s comments followed China’s obstruction of Taiwan’s participation at this year’s International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) assembly in Canada, giving rise to speculation about whether Beijing has again suppressed Taiwan’s involvement in an international organization.
“It is uncertain whether China is involved,” Lu said.
Taiwan would be able to obtain first-hand information about terrorist groups, counterterrorism activities and stolen or lost travel documents if it is permitted join the summit, but the nation would have to access that information with the assistance of other countries should it be excluded, he added.
Minister of Justice Chiu Tai-san (邱太三) said Taiwan’s participation hinges on the attitude of the Chinese government and the support of the US and other nations.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Jason Hsu (許毓仁) said that the nation has become a hotbed for fraud and a major exporter of telecom fraud, raising the risk of significant consequences from exclusion from the international police body.
In response to questions about whether Taiwan’s exclusion from the ICAO assembly was due to President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) refusal to accept the so-called “1992 consensus,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Deputy Minister Chang Tien-chin (張天欽) said that former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) accepted the “1992 consensus,” but that did not enable the nation to join the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
The council extends goodwill toward China and is seeking to establish a stable and prosperous cross-strait relationship, Chang said.
The “1992 consensus,” a term former MAC chairman Su Chi (蘇起) admitted to making up in 2000, refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and the Chinese government that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
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