The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) yesterday urged democracies to support Taiwan, rearrange supply chains and impose sanctions on Chinese officials, a day before the opening of the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is expected to secure a third term in power, showing that “the CCP has no intention of moderating its belligerent policies at home or abroad,” the international group of lawmakers wrote in a news release.
“Xi’s re-selection will also see a concentration of power not seen since the Mao [Zedong (毛澤東)] era, with the CCP’s authoritarian rule transformed into a personal dictatorship,” the alliance said.
Photo: CNA
“The CCP under Xi’s leadership has perpetrated industrial scale human rights abuses in the Uyghur Region, violated international agreements on Hong Kong’s autonomy and provided tacit support to Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine while ramping up military threats against Taiwan,” it said.
Since China has shown no sign of easing its “oppressive policies,” democratic countries are urged to “renew their efforts to safeguard human rights, democracy and the international rules-based order,” the alliance said, calling for “urgent action” to counter Beijing.
Democratic governments should impose sanctions targeting Chinese officials responsible for carrying out repressive policies in the Uighur region, Tibet and Hong Kong, it said.
“Audits of supply chains dependency” must be conducted to ensure they are diverse, resilient and “untainted by forced labor abuses” in China, the alliance said.
Democracies are also urged to develop political and economic ties with Taiwan, “including through bilateral and multilateral trade and investment deals,” it said.
Extradition treaties with China and Hong Kong must be repealed “to protect diasporic groups at risk of the PRC’s [People’s republic of China] transnational repression,” it said.
IPAC is comprised of more than 200 lawmakers from national legislatures and the European Parliament, many of whom are sanctioned by Beijing. Lawmakers who signed the statement hailed from the legislatures of Albania, Australia, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Ukraine, the UK, the US, the European Parliament and elsewhere.
Separately, US senators Jim Risch, a Republican, and Bob Menendez, a Democrat, on Friday said that the CPP under Xi’s rule has become “more active and more emboldened than ever before.”
Menendez is chairman of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and Risch is a ranking member.
“As the 20th Party Congress begins this weekend and Xi Jinping consolidates his power and preaches ‘common development for all mankind,’ the CCP’s widespread campaign of oppression and economic instability will continue,” they wrote in a joint statement.
“From its predatory economic behavior to the crushing of the religious and cultural autonomy of Tibet, its campaign of genocide against the Uyghur people, its unrealistic ‘zero COVID’ policies, and the imposition and exportation of digital authoritarianism — the Communist Party today under Xi is more active and more emboldened than ever before,” they said.
China cannot claim to be committed to resolving the world’s security challenges while threatening Taiwan with war and furnishing Russia with energy and metal to continue its war in Ukraine, they said.
“Xi securing a third term will only continue this path of repression, economic coercion, and regional instability,” they said.
The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) is to tighten rules for candidates running for public office, requiring them to declare that they do not hold a Chinese household registration or passport, and that they possess no other foreign citizenship. The requirement was set out in a draft amendment to the Enforcement Rules of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法 ) released by the ministry on Thursday. Under the proposal, candidates would need to make the declaration when submitting their registration forms, which would be published in the official election bulletin. The move follows the removal of several elected officials who were
The Republic of China (ROC) is celebrating its 114th Double Ten National Day today, featuring military parades and a variety of performances and speeches in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei. The Taiwan Taiko Association opened the celebrations with a 100-drummer performance, including young percussionists. As per tradition, an air force Mirage 2000 fighter jet flew over the Presidential Office as a part of the performance. The Honor Guards of the ROC and its marching band also heralded in a military parade. Students from Taichung's Shin Min High School then followed with a colorful performance using floral imagery to represent Taiwan's alternate name
FOUR DESIGNATED AREAS: Notices were issued for live-fire exercises in waters south and northwest of Penghu, northeast of Keelung and west of Kaohsiung, they said The military is planning three major annual exercises across the army, navy and air force this month, with the navy’s “Hai Chiang” (海強, “Sea Strong”) drills running from today through Thursday, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The Hai Chiang exercise, which is to take place in waters surrounding Taiwan, would feature P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft and S-70C anti-submarine helicopters, the ministry said, adding that the drills aim to bolster the nation’s offshore defensive capabilities. China has intensified military and psychological pressure against Taiwan, repeatedly sending warplanes and vessels into areas near the nation’s air defense identification zone and across
A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would severely threaten the national security of the US, Japan, the Philippines and other nations, while global economic losses could reach US$10 trillion, National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆) wrote in an article published yesterday in Foreign Affairs. “The future of Taiwan is not merely a regional concern; it is a test of whether the international order can withstand the pressure of authoritarian expansionism,” Lin wrote in the article titled “Taiwan’s Plan for Peace Through Strength — How Investments in Resilience Can Deter Beijing.” Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) intent to take Taiwan by force