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.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to start construction of its 1.4-nanometer chip manufacturing facilities at the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP, 中部科學園區) as early as October, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) reported yesterday, citing the park administration. TSMC acquired land for the second phase of the park’s expansion in Taichung in June. Large cement, construction and facility engineering companies in central Taiwan have reportedly been receiving bids for TSMC-related projects, the report said. Supply-chain firms estimated that the business opportunities for engineering, equipment and materials supply, and back-end packaging and testing could reach as high as
CHAMPIONS: President Lai congratulated the players’ outstanding performance, cheering them for marking a new milestone in the nation’s baseball history Taiwan on Sunday won their first Little League Baseball World Series (LLBWS) title in 29 years, as Taipei’s Dong Yuan Elementary School defeated a team from Las Vegas 7-0 in the championship game in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. It was Taiwan’s first championship in the annual tournament since 1996, ending a nearly three-decade drought. “It has been a very long time ... and we finally made it,” Taiwan manager Lai Min-nan (賴敏男) said after the game. Lai said he last managed a Dong Yuan team in at the South Williamsport in 2015, when they were eliminated after four games. “There is
Democratic nations should refrain from attending China’s upcoming large-scale military parade, which Beijing could use to sow discord among democracies, Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Shen You-chung (沈有忠) said. China is scheduled to stage the parade on Wednesday next week to mark the 80th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II. The event is expected to mobilize tens of thousands of participants and prominently showcase China’s military hardware. Speaking at a symposium in Taichung on Thursday, Shen said that Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) recently met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a visit to New Delhi.
FINANCES: The KMT plan to halt pension cuts could bankrupt the pension fund years earlier, undermining intergenerational fairness, a Ministry of Civil Service report said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus’ proposal to amend the law to halt pension cuts for civil servants, teachers and military personnel could accelerate the depletion of the Public Service Pension Fund by four to five years, a Ministry of Civil Service report said. Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) on Aug. 14 said that the Act Governing Civil Servants’ Retirement, Discharge and Pensions (公務人員退休資遣撫卹法) should be amended, adding that changes could begin as soon as after Saturday’s recall and referendum. In a written report to the Legislative Yuan, the ministry said that the fund already faces a severe imbalance between revenue
RSS