Seventy-one US representatives signed a joint letter urging US President Joe Biden’s administration to assist Taiwan’s bid to join the International Criminal Police Organization and participate as an observer in the Interpol General Assembly next week.
The letter, based on a bipartisan initiative by US representatives John Curtis, Michael Guest and Gerry Connolly, was sent to US Attorney General Merrick Garland, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Interpol Washington Director Michael Hughes on Tuesday last week.
A news release issued on Thursday by Curtis’ office cited the letter as saying that by participating in Interpol, Taiwan could work with the US and other international allies to fight corruption and abuse of the Interpol system.
Photo: Reuters
“Taiwan’s lack of participation leaves a void in global crime-fighting efforts,” the lawmakers wrote.
Taiwan must obtain second-hand information from friendly nations, and is unable to effectively share information about criminals and suspicious activity with the international community, they said.
The letter also highlighted laws that require Washington to develop strategies to assist Taiwan’s efforts to participate in Interpol, as well as other international organizations.
These include a bill signed into law by then-US president Barack Obama on March 18, 2016, and the Taiwan Allies International Protection and Enhancement Initiative Act, which was signed into law by then-US president Donald Trump on March 26 last year.
The “legislation clearly demonstrates congressional intent to support strategies to gain meaningful Interpol participation, and ultimately membership, for Taiwan,” the representatives wrote.
Curtis’ news release said: “This administration needs to fulfill the intent laws passed by Congress, counter China’s influence and make a strong push for Taiwan’s participation in Interpol ahead of the general assembly meeting later this month.”
Taiwan joined Interpol in 1961 using its formal name, the Republic of China, but was forced to withdraw when the People’s Republic of China joined the organization in 1984. Interpol has since denied Taiwan’s requests to participate, citing a resolution at its 53rd General Assembly that accepted China as a member.
This year’s general assembly is to take place from Tuesday to Thursday in Istanbul, Turkey.
MISINFORMATION: The generated content tends to adopt China’s official stance, such as ‘Taiwan is currently governed by the Chinese central government,’ the NSB said Five China-developed artificial intelligence (AI) language models exhibit cybersecurity risks and content biases, an inspection conducted by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The five AI tools are: DeepSeek, Doubao (豆包), Yiyan (文心一言), Tongyi (通義千問) and Yuanbao (騰訊元寶), the bureau said, advising people to remain vigilant to protect personal data privacy and corporate business secrets. The NSB said it, in accordance with the National Intelligence Services Act (國家情報工作法), has reviewed international cybersecurity reports and intelligence, and coordinated with the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau and the National Police Agency’s Criminal Investigation Bureau to conduct an inspection of China-made AI language
LIMITS: While China increases military pressure on Taiwan and expands its use of cognitive warfare, it is unwilling to target tech supply chains, the report said US and Taiwan military officials have warned that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could implement a blockade within “a matter of hours” and need only “minimal conversion time” prior to an attack on Taiwan, a report released on Tuesday by the US Senate’s China Economic and Security Review Commission said. “While there is no indication that China is planning an imminent attack, the United States and its allies and partners can no longer assume that a Taiwan contingency is a distant possibility for which they would have ample time to prepare,” it said. The commission made the comments in its annual
CHECKING BOUNDARIES: China wants to disrupt solidarity among democracies and test their red lines, but it is instead pushing nations to become more united, an expert said The US Department of State on Friday expressed deep concern over a Chinese public security agency’s investigation into Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋) for “secession.” “China’s actions threaten free speech and erode norms that have underpinned the cross-strait ‘status quo’ for decades,” a US Department of State spokesperson said. The Chongqing Municipal Public Security Bureau late last month listed Shen as “wanted” and launched an investigation into alleged “secession-related” criminal activities, including his founding of the Kuma Academy, a civil defense organization that prepares people for an invasion by China. The spokesperson said that the US was “deeply concerned” about the bureau investigating Shen
‘TROUBLEMAKER’: Most countries believe that it is China — rather than Taiwan — that is undermining regional peace and stability with its coercive tactics, the president said China should restrain itself and refrain from being a troublemaker that sabotages peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. Lai made the remarks after China Coast Guard vessels sailed into disputed waters off the Senkaku Islands — known as the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) in Taiwan — following a remark Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made regarding Taiwan. Takaichi during a parliamentary session on Nov. 7 said that a “Taiwan contingency” involving a Chinese naval blockade could qualify as a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, and trigger Tokyo’s deployment of its military for defense. Asked about the escalating tensions
RSS