The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday thanked British lawmakers for passing a motion to enhance security cooperation with Taiwan and support its bid for international recognition.
Members of the British House of Commons on Thursday unanimously voted for the motion following discussions over UK-Taiwan friendship and cooperation presided over by MPs Alicia Kearns and Bob Steward — who are cochairs of the China Research Group and British-Taiwanese All-Party Parliamentary Group respectively.
Several lawmakers called for a free-trade deal with Taiwan and supporting Taipei’s bid to enter the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Photo: AFP
It is London’s policy to support Taiwan’s efforts to participate in the WHO, International Civil Aviation Organization and Interpol, the motion said.
It urges the British government to facilitate the exchange of visits by senior officials and monitor Beijing’s disruptions of the rules-based international order, including encroaching on Taiwan’s air defense identification zone, and the use of hacking and hybrid warfare.
The UK should work with the US and other democratic countries to protect the right of Taiwanese to decide their future, the lawmakers said.
The motion also expressed approval for Taiwan’s bilingualism project and Britain’s intent to enhance cooperation on education initiatives with Taiwan.
“Other like-minded countries are increasingly appreciative of the need to band together against authoritarianism and economic coercion,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
The ministry also condemned Chinese military incursions into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone, adding: “Taiwan is not alone and it has on multiple occasions defeated that authoritarian state’s attempts at intimidation.”
Taiwan would build on the solid foundation of Taiwan-UK friendship, maintain channels of dialogue and seek to deepen the partnership through innovative policy, it said.
Members of the British parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee are to visit Taiwan on Saturday next week to offer their support in dealing with Chinese pressure, committee chairman Tom Tugendhat said on Thursday.
“I am very much looking forward to the opportunity to visit Taiwan and show that the UK will stand up for the protection of the island’s democratic values under increased pressure from Beijing,” said Tugendhat, who is to be part of the nine-person delegation.
It would be the first time a delegation from the committee has visited Taiwan since 2006.
The trip is not only a long overdue opportunity for British lawmakers to display solidarity with Taiwan, but also a chance to learn, said Tugendhat, one of five British MPs punished by Beijing last year for spreading what it called “lies and disinformation” about China.
Taiwan has been on the front line of various forms of interference from the Chinese Communist Party, which has also targeted the UK, Tugendhat said.
“We must learn how we can deepen cooperation to respond effectively to threats that undermine liberal democracy,” Tugendhat said.
Additional reporting by CNA
‘UPHOLDING PEACE’: Taiwan’s foreign minister thanked the US Congress for using a ‘creative and effective way’ to deter Chinese military aggression toward the nation The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, aimed at deterring Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by threatening to publish information about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials’ “illicit” financial assets if Beijing were to attack. The act would also “restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials,” the text of the legislation says. The bill was introduced in January last year by US representatives French Hill and Brad Sherman. After remarks from several members, it passed unanimously. “If China chooses to attack the free people of Taiwan, [the bill] requires the Treasury secretary to publish the illicit
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
A senior US military official yesterday warned his Chinese counterpart against Beijing’s “dangerous” moves in the South China Sea during the first talks of their kind between the commanders. Washington and Beijing remain at odds on issues from trade to the status of Taiwan and China’s increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions, but they have sought to re-establish regular military-to-military talks in a bid to prevent flashpoint disputes from spinning out of control. Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and Wu Yanan (吳亞男), head of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, talked via videoconference. Paparo “underscored the importance
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
RSS