The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday thanked 12 of the nation’s allies for speaking out in support of Taiwan, after they on Tuesday voiced “serious concern” over recent Chinese military drills in a joint statement to the UN.
The statement also praised Taiwan’s composed response to the drills — launched in the days after US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelsoi visited Taipei from Aug. 2 and 3.
Beijing’s actions threaten regional peace and security, the nations’ ambassadors to the UN said, urging other nations to dissuade China from its attempts to change the “status quo.”
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times
Honduras and the Vatican are the only two of the nation’s 14 diplomatic allies that did not sign the statement, although the Vatican is not a full member of the UN.
The signatories were Belize, Eswatini, Guatemala, Haiti, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Paraguay, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Tuvalu.
On Aug. 11, during a visit to Taiwan, St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves revealed that the nation’s allies were drafting a letter to the UN to condemn Chinese military coercion against Taiwan.
At the time, he said that the statement would address the “unreasonable, disproportionate and wholly wrong conduct” of the People’s Republic of China.
In Taipei yesterday, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) expressed the nation’s “sincere gratitude” for the statement.
The letter reaffirms allies’ concern for regional peace and stability, and commitment to upholding the rules-based international order under the tenets of the UN Charter, she told a regular news conference.
Ou also reiterated Taiwan’s condemnation of Chinese military coercion, which disrupts the international order, as well as global trade and movement.
The ministry calls on the international community to recognize China’s irresponsible actions and urge it to observe the prohibition against military force under the UN Charter, she said.
China’s permanent mission to the UN on Tuesday condemned the “extreme minority” of signatory nations for “baselessly accusing China for taking legitimate measures to safeguard its national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
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