Liberal International on Saturday passed a “World Today Resolution” recognizing the threat that China poses to Taiwan, while supporting Taipei’s inclusion in international organizations.
Liberal International was established in 1947 as a federation of liberal political parties from around the world. Last week, it held its 63rd congress in Sofia, Bulgaria, which was attended by 221 representatives from 58 countries.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), in her capacity as chairperson of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), delivered a speech in a pre-recorded video at the congress’ opening on Thursday.
Photo courtesy of the Democratic Progressive Party via CNA
DPP spokeswoman Hsieh Pei-fen (謝佩芬) yesterday said the party, which has been a member of Liberal International since 1994, thanks the group and its global partners for their long-term support for Taiwan.
She said many politicians expressed their support for Taiwan during the congress, including Ilhan Kyuchyuk, a Bulgarian lawmaker and copresident of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe; Art Eggleton, a former Canadian minister of international trade and minister of national defense; Canadian lawmaker Leah Taylor Roy; British Member of the European Parliament Phillip Bennion; and South African lawmaker Thomas Walters.
The World Today Resolution passed at last year’s congress expressed concern over China’s impact on Taiwan, including its interference with Taiwan’s elections, Hsieh said.
This year’s resolution expressed concern over the increasing number of Chinese incursions into Taiwanese waters and airspace, saying the moves “can unilaterally undermine the status quo of peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.”
It added that it “strongly supports” Taiwan’s inclusion in international organizations such as the WHO and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Liberal International’s executive committee also passed a resolution upgrading its “fair-trade task force” to a standing “fair-trade committee,” recommending Hsieh as one of the eight committee members and the only representative from Asia.
DPP Legislator Lin Ching-yi (林靜儀) was also re-elected as one of the 22 human rights committee members.
A Chinese aircraft carrier group entered Japan’s economic waters over the weekend, before exiting to conduct drills involving fighter jets, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said yesterday. The Liaoning aircraft carrier, two missile destroyers and one fast combat supply ship sailed about 300km southwest of Japan’s easternmost island of Minamitori on Saturday, a ministry statement said. It was the first time a Chinese aircraft carrier had entered that part of Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), a ministry spokesman said. “We think the Chinese military is trying to improve its operational capability and ability to conduct operations in distant areas,” the spokesman said. China’s growing
Nine retired generals from Taiwan, Japan and the US have been invited to participate in a tabletop exercise hosted by the Taipei School of Economics and Political Science Foundation tomorrow and Wednesday that simulates a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan in 2030, the foundation said yesterday. The five retired Taiwanese generals would include retired admiral Lee Hsi-min (李喜明), joined by retired US Navy admiral Michael Mullen and former chief of staff of the Japan Self-Defense Forces general Shigeru Iwasaki, it said. The simulation aims to offer strategic insights into regional security and peace in the Taiwan Strait, it added. Foundation chair Huang Huang-hsiung
PUBLIC WARNING: The two students had been tricked into going to Hong Kong for a ‘high-paying’ job, which sent them to a scam center in Cambodia Police warned the public not to trust job advertisements touting high pay abroad following the return of two college students over the weekend who had been trafficked and forced to work at a cyberscam center in Cambodia. The two victims, surnamed Lee (李), 18, and Lin (林), 19, were interviewed by police after landing in Taiwan on Saturday. Taichung’s Chingshui Police Precinct said in a statement yesterday that the two students are good friends, and Lin had suspended her studies after seeing the ad promising good pay to work in Hong Kong. Lee’s grandfather on Thursday reported to police that Lee had sent
A Chinese ship ran aground in stormy weather in shallow waters off a Philippines-controlled island in the disputed South China Sea, prompting Filipino forces to go on alert, Philippine military officials said yesterday. When Philippine forces assessed that the Chinese fishing vessel appeared to have run aground in the shallows east of Thitu Island (Jhongye Island, 中業島) on Saturday due to bad weather, Philippine military and coast guard personnel deployed to provide help, but later saw that the ship had been extricated, Philippine navy regional spokesperson Ellaine Rose Collado said. No other details were immediately available, including if there were injuries among