The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday thanked Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson hours after the leaders expressed support for Taiwan in a teleconference.
In a joint statement following a virtual summit on security issues, Morrison and Johnson, while laying out a firm stance on Russia’s threats to Ukraine’s sovereignty, called attention to “the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations.”
The leaders also called on China to respect human rights in Xinjiang and freedoms in Hong Kong in accordance with the Sino-British Joint Declaration.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times
Ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) told a routine news conference in Taipei that Beijing’s attempts to change the “status quo” by the threat of force have prompted world leaders to call for peace.
The importance of peace across the Taiwan Strait to the international community has been affirmed in three summits involving the leaders of Canada, Japan, South Korea and the US this month, as well as in the US’ Indo-Pacific Strategy document, which Washington released last week, Ou said.
Taiwan’s strategically crucial position in the first island chain makes it indispensable to the peace and prosperity of the region, and Taipei continues to work with like-minded countries to safeguard freedom and democracy, she said.
Separately yesterday, the ministry in a news release hailed the passage of the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Common Security and Defence Policy by the European Parliament, saying that Taiwan’s relationship with the zone has been bolstered.
The two resolutions showed that the European Parliament is alert to China’s unilateral and coercive actions against others, and that it recognizes Taiwan’s importance to the world’s geopolitics and supply chains, the ministry said.
EU lawmakers expressed “grave concern” over Chinese military aircraft incursions into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone in the two resolutions, while the Common Security and Defence Policy specifically condemns Beijing’s attempts to coerce Lithuania and other member states, the ministry said.
Taiwan approves of the European Commission’s decision to lodge complaints about China’s punitive economic policies, it said.
The EU is urged to bolster ties with Taiwan by signing a bilateral investment agreement and supporting the latter’s bid for international space, it said.
The nation would continue to collaborate with the EU and local partners to maintain peace in the region, while its ties with Europe would be deepened to facilitate the development of democratic resilience, it said.
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