New Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on Tuesday expressed concern over China’s military threat to Taiwan in his first address to the Swedish parliament.
Kristersson delivered his Statement of Government Policy address to lawmakers on his first day as prime minister after winning a parliamentary vote on Monday.
In a section on foreign policy, Kristersson said that Sweden is “facing the greatest foreign, security and defense policy challenges of modern times.”
Photo: AFP
After condemning Russia’s antidemocratic actions and calling for European solidarity, he briefly addressed the Chinese threat.
“China’s latest rhetoric towards Taiwan is worrying,” he said. “Threats of military force are unacceptable. This applies to all countries, and most particularly to permanent members of the UN Security Council.”
Sweden-China relations should be “anchored in a common European strategy with a clear transatlantic link,” he said.
“Sweden will never accept that aggressive states violate democratic countries’ freedom and self-determination,” he added. “Might does not make right.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday thanked Kristersson and his Cabinet for their continued concern for stability in the Taiwan Strait and condemnation of Chinese attempts to change the “status quo.”
Taiwan and Sweden share the universal values of freedom, democracy, rule of law and protection of human rights, while also facing challenges posed by authoritarian states, the ministry said in a statement.
“Now more than ever it is important for our countries to work together to defend the rules-based international order and our shared values,” it said.
The ministry has already requested that the Taipei Mission in Sweden convey the nation’s congratulations to the new government and Swedes, as well as pass along President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) letter of congratulations, it said.
“Taiwan looks forward to working closely with the new Swedish government under the leadership of Prime Minister Kristersson to further deepen friendly bilateral relations in various fields,” it said.
Kristersson is leader of the conservative Moderate Party, which in the past few years has spoken out in support for Taiwan numerous times in the Swedish parliament.
In April, an 11-member delegation from Sweden visited Taiwan led by Boriana Aberg, head of the Swedish-Taiwanese Parliamentary Association.
The three-party coalition between the Moderates, Liberals and Christian Democrats marks the first time since 2014 that conservatives are to govern Sweden, after the right-wing bloc won a narrow majority in Sept. 11 elections.
A subsidiary of a Hong Kong-based company that has lost control of two critical ports on the Panama Canal said it is seeking US$2 billion of compensation in damages from Panama over its “illegal” takeover of the ports. Panama Ports Co, a unit of Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison Holdings (長江和記實業), on Friday said in a statement that it is demanding the sum under international arbitration proceedings that it had already started. The Panamanian government last week seized control of the Balboa and Cristobal ports on each end of the Panama Canal, after the country’s Supreme Court declared earlier that a concession allowing
DETERRENCE: With 1,000 indigenous Hsiung Feng II and III missiles and 400 Harpoon missiles, the nation would boast the highest anti-ship missile density in the world With Taiwan wrapping up mass production of Hsiung Feng II and III missiles by December and an influx of Harpoon missiles from the US, Taiwan would have the highest density of anti-ship missiles in the world, a source said yesterday. Taiwan is to wrap up mass production of the indigenous anti-ship missiles by the end of year, as the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology has been meeting production targets ahead of schedule, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said. Combined with the 400 Harpoon anti-ship missiles Taiwan expects to receive from the US by 2028, the nation would have
POSSIBILITIES EMERGE: With Taiwan’s victory and Japan’s narrow win over Australia, Taiwan now have a chance to advance if South Korea also beat the Aussies Taiwan has high hopes that the national baseball team would advance to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarter-finals after clinching a crucial 5-4 victory over South Korea in a nail-biting extra-inning game at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Boosted by three home runs — two solo shots by Yu Chang (張育成) and Cheng Tsung-che (鄭宗哲) and a two-run homer by Stuart Fairchild — the triumph gave Taiwan a much-needed second victory in the five-team Pool C, where only the top two finishers would advance to the knockout stage in Miami, Florida. Entering extra innings with the game tied at four apiece, Taiwan scored
MISSION OF PEACE: The foreign minister urged Beijing to respect Taiwan’s existence as an independent nation, and work together to ensure peace and stability in the region Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday rejected Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi’s (王毅) comments about Taiwan, criticizing China as a “troublemaker” in the international community and a disruptor of cross-strait peace. Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the Chinese National People’s Congress, Wang said that Taiwan has always been a territory of China and that it would be impossible for it to become its own country. The “return” of Taiwan to China was the natural outcome of the Chinese people’s resistance against Japan in World War II, and that any pursuit of independence was “doomed
RSS