Visiting British lawmaker Alicia Kearns yesterday called for Taiwan’s full formal membership in the WHO.
Allies should stand together in welcoming Taiwan to participate in more multilateral organizations such as the WHO, at which it has specialized experience to offer, Kearns told a news conference in Taipei, following her delegation’s meetings with government officials.
The seven-member delegation led by Kearns, a Conservative lawmaker who chairs the British House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee, has met with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), as well as foreign affairs and national security officials since their arrival on Tuesday.
Photo: Makoto Lin, EPA-EFE
The two sides discussed military conflict, cyberthreats, defense cooperation and security issues, with a focus on safeguarding and maintaining the cross-strait “status quo,” Kearns told reporters.
“And we talked about how we as the international community work together to prevent [conflict], and therefore the importance of deterrence diplomacy,” she said.
“We must prevent conflict, we must ensure that Taiwan is respected, and we must safeguard its sovereignty, safeguard the Strait, and safeguard all of those who live in Taiwan and wish to continue living in a democratic way,” Kearns said.
The cross-party House of Commons delegation met with Tsai earlier yesterday at the Presidential Office Building, where Tsai called on democracies to “stand more united than ever in the face of authoritarian expansion.”
Tsai said that Taiwan attaches great importance to its relations with the UK and that Taipei is looking forward to collaborating more with London.
The visit came just one day after British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in a major policy speech that the “golden era” of UK-China relations was “over.”
Kearns said Sunak’s remarks did not mean the UK would “cut off” China, but rather suggested that Britain should take a more robust and pragmatic approach toward Beijing.
“We will continue to trade with China ... but we also have to be resilient, and that means supply chain resilience,” she said.
In this regard, Kearns said that the foreign affairs committee would welcome deeper economic trade ties between the UK and Taiwan, as the two have “complementary economies.”
Kearns told Tsai in the earlier meeting that apart from established cooperation on offshore wind power and language education, the committee hoped to further bilateral trade and investment.
Kearns also expressed the hope that Taiwan could help improve Chinese-language education in the UK, while Britain could help Taiwan reach its goal of becoming a bilingual nation by 2030.
Kearns also expressed disappointment with the Chinese embassy in London’s criticism of the trip.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Chinese embassy said the lawmakers’ visit to Taiwan was “a flagrant violation of the one China principle” and “a gross interference in China’s internal affairs.”
The embassy also said that undermining China’s interests would be met with “forceful responses.”
“I would be disappointed if the Chinese ambassador has criticized us for coming here,” Kearns said. “We are open for dialogue and discussion, and we would always want to have dialogue with all partners to avoid miscalculations and to be able to make clear our own views.”
FIRST STEP: Business groups in Taiwan welcomed the deal, which does not include tariff reductions at this stage, as they called for the elimination of double taxation Taiwan and the US yesterday signed an initial agreement under the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade. The agreement was signed yesterday morning by Representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) and American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Managing Director Ingrid Larson in Washington, the Office of Trade Negotiations in Taipei said. The ceremony was witnessed by Minister Without Portfolio John Deng (鄧振中) and Deputy US Trade Representative Sarah Bianchi. Taiwan and the US started talks under the initiative in August last year, after Taipei was left out of the Washington-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. “The deal that will be signed tonight is not only very historic,
Beijing yesterday blamed US “provocation” for an incident last week in which a Chinese plane crossed in front of a US surveillance aircraft over the South China Sea. The incident came at a time of frayed ties between Washington and Beijing over issues including Taiwan and the shooting down of an alleged Chinese spy balloon that flew over the US this year. “The United States’ long-term and frequent sending of ships and planes to conduct close surveillance on China seriously harms China’s national sovereignty and security,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning (毛寧) said when asked about the latest incident. “This
‘GLOBAL NETWORK’: The only way to deter a Chinese invasion is for the international community to unite in its resolve, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Roy Lee said Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Roy Lee (李淳) yesterday urged democratic nations around the world to not let Beijing dictate the definition of their “one China” policies, saying that they should increase cooperation with Taiwan to build a resilient democratic network. Lee made the remarks during his speech, titled “Ukraine and Taiwan: Why Global Unity Matters,” at the annual Bratislava Forum in Slovakia. “People in Taiwan have been paying close attention to the situation in Ukraine and admire Ukrainians for defending their homeland. They are [also] fighting for Taiwan and democratic countries around the world,” Lee told forum participants. “The international
HARD-WON FREEDOM: Beijing’s 1989 crackdown on protesters has not been and should not be forgotten, as China tightens its grip on Hong Kong, Lai said Taiwanese enjoy democracy and freedom and have multiple ways to express their creativity, and hopefully young people in China would also one day have the freedom to sing and express themselves, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday, commemorating the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Yesterday was the 34th anniversary of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s bloody crackdown on student-led protests in Beijing in 1989, also known as the June Fourth Incident. Tsai posted a photograph taken in March in a subway station in Guizhou, China, where hundreds of young people gathered to sing People With No Ideals Don’t Get Hurt (沒有理想的人不傷心), saying that they
RSS