Taiwan will work with Lithuania and other like-minded partners to protect shared values, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday, after the Baltic country’s new political coalition said it would defend “those fighting for freedom” from “Belarus to Taiwan.”
The Lithuanian coalition agreement, signed by leaders of the Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats (TS-LKD), Liberal Movement and Freedom Party, which together won 74 seats in the 141-seat parliament on Oct. 25, binds the new government to carry out a “values-based foreign policy.”
The three parties are all led by women, Ingrida Simonyte for the TS-LKD, Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen for the Liberal Movement and Ausrine Armonaite for the Freedom Party, according to the Atlantic Council’s Web site.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times
“We will actively oppose any violation of human rights and democratic freedoms, and will defend those fighting for freedom around the world, from Belarus to Taiwan,” they said.
“The phrases ‘values-based foreign policy’ & ‘defend those fighting for freedom’ roar like thunder,” Wu wrote on the Ministry of Foreign Affair’s Twitter account.
“#Taiwan will work with #Lithuania & other like-minded partners to protect our cherished shared values. We’re David fighting Goliath, & we’ll prevail,” he said.
The newly elected Lithuanian lawmakers are scheduled to assume their posts later this month, the ministry said in a news release.
Lithuania has voiced support for Taiwan’s bid to join the WHO, it added.
Sixty Lithuanian lawmakers last month wrote a joint letter voicing their support for Taiwan to join this week’s World Health Assembly (WHA), the WHO’s decisionmaking body, while Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevicius in May also publicly voiced support for Taiwan’s participation in the WHO, it said.
In other diplomatic news, Saudi Arabia’s new representative to Taiwan, Adel Althaidi, arrived in Taiwan on Oct. 28 and would assume his post after his quarantine period ends, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Deputy Director-General Lee Ya-ping (李雅萍) told a news briefing yesterday.
Althaidi was first secretary at Saudi Arabia’s mission to the UN in New York and served as a section chief on multilateral relations at the kingdom’s embassy in Brussels, she said.
Before leaving for Taiwan, he met with Representative to Saudi Arabia Teng Sheng-ping (鄧盛平) and exchanged opinions about collaborations on trade, culture, education, healthcare, technology and other areas, she said.
Former Saudi Arabian representative to Taiwan Rafat Al Sayed left Taipei in May.
Meanwhile, a new technical mission in Somaliland would be inaugurated later this month, after the nation’s representative office in Hargeisa opened on Aug. 17, Lee said.
The mission would formally launch three bilateral cooperation projects in the fields of agriculture, information and communications technology, and public healthcare next year, she added.
It is preparing projects to improve local vegetable and fruit production, government digitalization and healthcare for pregnant women and infants, she said.
Additional reporting by Reuters
PLA MANEUVERS: Although Beijing has yet to formally announce military drills, its coast guard vessels have been spotted near and around Taiwan since Friday The Taiwanese military is on high alert and is closely monitoring the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) air and naval deployments after Beijing yesterday reserved seven airspace areas east of its Zhejiang and Fujian provinces through Wednesday. Beijing’s action was perceived as a precursor to a potential third “Joint Sword” military exercise, which national security experts said the PLA could launch following President William Lai’s (賴清德) state visits to the nation’s three Pacific allies and stopovers in Hawaii and Guam last week. Unlike the Joint Sword military exercises in May and October, when Beijing provided detailed information about the affected areas, it
CHINA: The activities come amid speculation that Beijing might launch military exercises in response to Lai’s recent visit to Pacific allies The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday said China had nearly doubled the number of its warships operating around the nation in the previous 24 hours, ahead of what security sources expect would be a new round of war games. China’s military activities come amid speculation Beijing might organize military drills around the nation in response to President William Lai’s (賴清德) recent visit to Pacific allies, including stops in Hawaii and Guam, a US territory. Lai returned from the week-long trip on Friday night. Beijing has held two rounds of war games around Taiwan this year, and sends ships and military planes
Five flights have been arranged to help nearly 2,000 Taiwanese tourists return home from Okinawa after being stranded due to cruise ship maintenance issues, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced yesterday. China Airlines Ltd (中華航空), and EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) have arranged five flights with a total of 748 additional seats to transport 1,857 passengers from the MSC Bellissima back to Taiwan, the ministry said. The flights have been scheduled for yesterday and today by the Civil Aviation Administration, with the cruise operator covering all associated costs. The MSC Bellissima, carrying 4,341 passengers, departed from Keelung on Wednesday last week for Okinawa,
China is deploying its largest navy fleet in regional waters in nearly three decades, posing a threat to Taiwan that is more pronounced than previous Chinese war games, the Ministry of National Defense said today. Speaking in Taipei, ministry spokesperson Sun Li-fang (孫立方) said the scale of the current Chinese naval deployment in an area running from the southern Japanese islands down into the South China Sea was the largest since China held war games around Taiwan ahead of 1996 Taiwanese presidential elections. China's military has yet to comment and has not confirmed it is carrying out any exercises. "The current scale is
RSS