Amid China’s attempts to deny international space to Taiwan, evident by the rejection of its application for observer status in the just concluded 75th session of the World Health Assembly (WHA), it augurs well that a high-powered delegation of senior Slovak government officials, led by Slovak National Council Deputy Speaker Milan Laurencik and Bratislava Region President Juraj Droba, is visiting Taiwan.
This is the second delegation Slovakia has sent to Taiwan in six months, after one in December last year. Visits by parliamentary delegations are becoming something of a regular feature in Taiwan.
The nation received a shot in the arm when then-Slovenian prime minister Janez Jansa revealed in January his country’s plan to establish an office in Taiwan.
Interestingly, he discussed it on the main government television channel of India, Doordarshan. India, which follows a “one China” policy, has been cozying up to Taiwan, much to the chagrin of China, and is witnessing a groundswell of goodwill for Taiwan not only among civil society and the media, but also along the political spectrum, cutting across party lines.
Jansa said in the interview that Taiwan is a democratic country that respects international standards, and Slovenia and it are working on “exchanging representatives,” adding that “of course, this will be on the same level as many of the EU member countries.”
Jansa said that he believes Taiwanese should have the right to determine their future.
“If they want to join China, if it is their free will without any pressure, without any military intervention, and without any blackmailing, without any strategic cheating as it is happening in Hong Kong currently, then we will support it,” he said. “But if Taiwanese people want to live independently, we are here to support also this position.”
Many countries in the world follow a “one China” policy, which constrains an executive branch from reaching out to Taiwan.
However, the support of parliaments — through resolutions and visits by cross-party delegations to engage with Taiwan, and extend the moral and political support of their countries and people — is of great strategic significance to pep up the morale of Taiwan, as it tenaciously fights for the values and principles of democracy against authoritarianism.
Taiwan enjoys the bipartisan support of most legislators and parliaments across the world, including in the US, Japan, the EU and the UK. The redoubtable and long-serving US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi continues to be one of the staunchest supporters of Taiwan and Tibet in the US.
Such support, particularly in the US Congress, is essential for legislation and resolutions having a bearing on Taiwan. Ahead of the WHA meeting, which concluded in Geneva, Switzerland, last month, a number of parliaments passed resolutions supporting Taiwan’s bid for observer status.
In Germany, the Bundestag passed a unanimous resolution urging the government to push for Taiwan’s participation in WHO activities. The resolution called on the German government to advocate for Taiwan’s participation in the WHA and allied agencies. It also called upon the government to report to the Bundestag regularly about its efforts to support Taiwan’s participation in WHO activities.
It should be understood and emphasized that in the democratic tradition, norms and conventions, legislatures are independent of the executive branch, and are not accountable to it; rather, the executive is responsible to the legislature. Inter-parliamentary relations at times override the bilateral diplomatic relations.
During the height of the Falkland War between the UK and Argentina, when diplomatic relations between the two were strained, the UK was obliged to extend a visa to Eduardo Menen, the brother of then-Argentinean president Carlos Menen, to enable him to participate in the centenary celebration of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in London in 1989.
The sidelines of that meeting provided the first diplomatic outreach between the two estranged countries.
It is not out of place to suggest that there should be efforts by the US and Japan for observer status for Taiwan in the IPU. The Geneva-based IPU, which preceded the UN, is the umbrella body of world parliaments. The criteria to accommodate Taiwan in the IPU needs to be tweaked, and this would require a coordinated effort.
Rup Narayan Das is a former officer of the Lok Sabha Secretariat of the Indian Parliament and a Taiwan Fellow at National Chung Hsing University.
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