Taiwan has been invited to join the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), highlighting its key role in resisting Beijing, and that democratic countries want Taipei to join their alliance, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Fan Yun (范雲) said yesterday.
Founded in 2020, IPAC consists of 250 legislators from 30 countries across five continents, who are working to reform how democratic nations approach China.
The alliance must reach a certain degree of consensus regarding which countries can become member states, with two legislators from two different parties on each country’s political spectrum chosen to be cochairs to ensure representativeness, Fan said.
Photo copied by Hsieh Chun-lin, Taipei Times
After passing a resolution, IPAC invited Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator Jang Chyi-lu (張其祿) and herself to be cochairs representing Taiwan’s legislators in the alliance, Fang said.
“It is hard-won progress,” as IPAC requires two legislators from two major parties to join, but Taiwan’s main opposition party — the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) — has continuously boycotted it, so Taiwan’s participation had been stalled, she said.
Thankfully, many legislators approached IPAC — applying for membership, joining its summit in Washington in September last year and attending its regional meetings — so despite the KMT’s opposition, IPAC finally invited Taiwan to join, valuing the nation’s key role in resisting China, Fan said.
This progress confirms that democratic countries want to form an alliance with Taiwan, she added.
Since the US-China trade dispute began, China’s Belt and Road Initiative “debt trap” and human rights abuses have been exposed, and with its “friend” Russia invading Ukraine, an alliance of democratic countries is taking form, while issues surrounding Taiwan are becoming more important, Fan said.
“We are working hard so that Taiwan can participate in international organizations, and joining IPAC is the first step in opening up new prospects,” she said.
Fan said she is glad to know that 40 legislators in Taiwan have applied for IPAC membership, adding that once she begins her duties as cochair, she plans to assist like-minded legislators in obtaining membership.
Fan said that she would also make a concerted effort to convey to the world that Taiwan would defend itself, pursue peace, not concede to China’s political intimidation or military coercion, and stand with democratic allies in resisting authoritarianism.
SECURITY: Taipei presses the US for arms supplies, saying the arms sales are not only a reflection of the US security commitment to Taiwan but also serve as a mutual deterrent against regional threats Taiwan is committed to preserving the cross-strait “status quo” and contributing to regional peace and stability, the Presidential Office said yesterday. “It is an undeniable fact that the Republic of China is a sovereign and independent democratic nation,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) reiterated, adding that Beijing has no right to claim sovereignty over Taiwan. The statements came after US President Donald Trump warned against Taiwanese independence. Trump wrapped up a state visit to Beijing on Friday, during which Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had pressed him not to support Taiwan. Taiwan depends heavily on US security backing to deter China from carrying
The subsidiary of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in Kumamoto, Japan, turned a profit in the first quarter of this year, marking the first time the first fab of the unit has become profitable since mass production started at the end of 2024. According to the contract chipmaker’s financial statement released on Friday, Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Inc (JASM), a joint venture running the fab in Kumamoto, posted NT$951 million (US$30.19 million) in profit in the January-to-March period, compared with a loss of NT$1.39 billion in the previous quarter, and a loss of NT$3.25 billion in the first quarter of
RESOLUTE BACKING: Two Republican senators are planning to introduce legislation that would impose immediate sanctions on China if it attempts to invade Taiwan US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson on Sunday reaffirmed US congressional support for Taiwan, saying the US and “all freedom-loving people” have a stake in preventing China from seizing Taiwan by force. Johnson made the remarks in an interview with Fox News Sunday on US President Donald Trump’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) last week. In an interview that aired on Friday on Fox News, just as Trump wrapped up a high-stakes visit to China, he said he has yet to green-light a new US$14 billion arms package to Taiwan and that it “depends on China.” “It’s a very good
US President Donald Trump yesterday said he would speak to President William Lai (賴清德) as his administration considers whether to move ahead with a US$14 billion weapons sale to Taiwan — a potential arms deal that has drawn criticism from China. “Well, I’ll speak to him. I speak to everybody,” Trump told reporters yesterday when asked if he had any plans to call his counterpart, although he did not offer a time frame for when such a conversation could take place. Trump previously said he would speak to the person “that’s running Taiwan,” without specifying who he meant. “We have that situation very
RSS