The Irish Senate on Wednesday unanimously passed a resolution seeking to enhance Dublin’s relations with Taipei, while also objecting to Beijing’s plans to possibly take over Taiwan by force.
The resolution called on the Irish government to speak out against ongoing and sustained breaches of human rights in the People’s Republic of China, as well as support the freedom and liberties of the people of Taiwan.
It reiterated that no force should be used in an attempt by China to annex Taiwan.
Photo: AFP
The resolution condemns Beijing’s treatment of the Uighur population in Xinjiang, and requests the government to deal with the people and government of Taiwan in the manner adopted by most EU member states, including via the EU’s representative office in Taipei.
It condemns all efforts to isolate the people and government of Taiwan from participating in international organizations.
The resolution was jointly initiated by 17 senators, including Irish Senator Michael McDowell.
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it is rare for the Irish Senate to pass a resolution regarding Taiwan.
The Irish Senate had previously only passed resolutions on Taiwan on two occasions, in 2013 and 2015, the ministry said.
In 2013, it supported Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations and signed an economic cooperation agreement with Taipei, while in 2015, it called for an EU-Taiwan bilateral investment agreement, it added.
After the resolution was passed, Representative to Ireland Yang Tzu-pao (楊子葆) thanked the senators for supporting closer relations between the two countries, while expressing the hope that the two sides would continue to cooperate on global challenges.
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
Taiwan is still in the process of assessing the possibility of recruiting workers from Eswatini, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that its goal is to help Eswatini upgrade its vocational training centers. If there are plans to recruit workers from Eswatini, safeguarding national security, protecting public health and ensuring the employment rights of Taiwanese would be prerequisites, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General Yen Chia-liang (顏嘉良) told a news conference. Key considerations would also include filling labor shortages in specific industries, and fostering bilateral professional and technical exchanges, he said. Yen was asked about the progress of labor
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
WARNING: China should stop engaging in actions that undermine regional peace and stability, as it would only build resentment among people across the Strait, the CGA said China has deployed more than 100 navy, coast guard and other vessels in waters from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea and the western Pacific since US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met in Beijing, National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday. “In this part of the world, #China is the one & only PROBLEM wrecking the #StatusQuo & threatening regional peace & stability,” Wu wrote on X. In a separate post, he said Beijing was coercing Taiwan’s maritime domain, calling it illegal and provocative, after the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) expelled a
RSS