French senators have sponsored a bill that seeks to impress upon the French government the benefits of supporting the inclusion of Taiwan in international bodies.
The sponsors included French senators Joel Guerriau and Alain Richard, both of whom serve on the France-Taiwan Inter-Parliamentary Amity Association.
Richard, who led delegations to Taiwan in 2015 and 2018, earlier this month was pressured by Chinese Ambassador to France Lu Shaye (盧沙野) to cancel a proposed trip to Taiwan, after Lu sent Richard a letter saying that the trip would “affect the ‘status quo’ between Taipei and Beijing.”
Photo: AFP
The bill, if passed, would lead to increased French support for Taiwan’s inclusion in international bodies such as the WHO, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the International Criminal Police Organization.
The bill references the “Taiwan model” of combating COVID-19, which has proved successful because Taiwan, with a population equivalent to that of Australia, has not had to lock down cities and has only recorded 10 deaths.
Despite Taiwan’s warning as early as Dec. 31, 2019, that the coronavirus had the potential for person-to-person transmission, the WHO had ignored the warning and did not consider the disease an international health crisis until the end of January last year, the bill says.
The exclusion of Taiwan from the WHO has been proven to be against the interests of the international community, especially when the WHO has channels to allow the participation of political entities not considered nations, it says.
International bodies, including the World Health Assembly (WHA) and the ICAO, provided ways for Taiwan to participate in both organizations from 2009 to 2016 without changing the “status quo” of cross-strait relations, the bill says.
It also says that Taiwan’s inclusion in international bodies would be a boon for the international community, as its GDP, on a par with that of Sweden, makes it one of the top Asian economies.
Enabling Taiwan’s participation in international bodies, using the model adopted by the WHA and ICAO from 2009 to 2016, should become a pillar of French diplomatic policy, the bill concludes.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique