The European Parliament on Wednesday approved three reports calling for the maintenance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
After passing without objections a resolution on EU-Taiwan trade and investment relations, the parliament approved reports on EU-US, EU-Japan and EU-China relations during a plenary session from Monday to yesterday in Strasbourg, France.
The resolution acknowledges Taiwan as an important economic and investment partner for the EU, and calls for the nation’s inclusion in multilateral and international forums.
 
                    Photo: AFP
The report on EU-China ties opposes Beijing’s constant distortion of UN Resolution 2758 by demanding that Taiwanese passport holders, including journalists, workers at non-governmental organizations and political activists be barred from accessing UN tours and events.
It also condemns China’s military provocations in the Taiwan Strait and elsewhere in the region.
The EU and the US agreed to continue to boost cooperation against authoritarianism and economic coercion around the world, as well as maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, the report on EU-US ties says.
The EU is to bolster security and economic cooperation with the US and other like-minded partners in the Indo-Pacific region, including Taiwan, to maintain regional stability and prosperity, and ensure freedom of navigation in the Taiwan Strait and the South China and East China seas, it says.
The efforts are also to “counter challenges that affect our shared values, interests, security and prosperity, in particular, any unilateral attempt to alter the status quo between the People’s Republic of China and Taiwan,” it says.
China’s military provocations are meant to threaten Taiwan and beyond, including the Indo-Pacific region and the established global order, it says.
In the report on EU-Japan relations, the European Parliament acknowledges Taiwan as “an important partner and a precious friend,” and reaffirms that cross-strait peace and stability “is an indispensable element of security and prosperity for the international community.”
Any change of the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait “must only take place by peaceful means and with mutual consent,” it says.
In Taipei yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs thanked the European Parliament for approving the reports and encouraged the EU to bolster ties with Taiwan.
The European Parliament demonstrated its concern for the situation in the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific region as well as its solid commitment to Taiwan, the ministry said.
In other news, Taiwan and the US on Wednesday held a working group on expanding Taipei’s meaningful participation in international organizations.
The meeting, which was held in Washington by the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US, was attended by representatives of the US Department of State and the ministry, the AIT said in a press release.
The discussion focused on near-term opportunities to support Taiwan’s expanded participation in the World Health Assembly and other global public health bodies, the International Civil Aviation Organization, as well as Taiwan’s meaningful participation in non-UN international organizations, it said.
US participants highlighted the “world-class expertise” Taiwan contributes to health, food security, aviation green fuels and women’s empowerment, calling on like-minded partners to work closely to prevent the exclusion of Taiwan from the international community, it said.
The two sides are to continue to bolster ties among international partners and promote Taiwan’s participation in international organizations using creative means, the ministry said.
Taiwan thanked the US for its long-term assistance in helping solicit and expand the international community’s support for Taiwan’s international participation, it said.

PEACE AND STABILITY: Maintaining the cross-strait ‘status quo’ has long been the government’s position, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan is committed to maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” and seeks no escalation of tensions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, rebutting a Time magazine opinion piece that described President William Lai (賴清德) as a “reckless leader.” The article, titled “The US Must Beware of Taiwan’s Reckless Leader,” was written by Lyle Goldstein, director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Defense Priorities think tank. Goldstein wrote that Taiwan is “the world’s most dangerous flashpoint” amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said that the situation in the Taiwan Strait has become less stable

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REASSURANCE: The US said Taiwan’s interests would not be harmed during the talk and that it remains steadfast in its support for the nation, the foreign minister said US President Donald Trump on Friday said he would bring up Taiwan with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) during a meeting on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in South Korea this week. “I will be talking about Taiwan [with Xi],” Trump told reporters before he departed for his trip to Asia, adding that he had “a lot of respect for Taiwan.” “We have a lot to talk about with President Xi, and he has a lot to talk about with us. I think we’ll have a good meeting,” Trump said. Taiwan has long been a contentious issue between the US and China.

UKRAINE, NVIDIA: The US leader said the subject of Russia’s war had come up ‘very strongly,’ while Jenson Huang was hoping that the conversation was good Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US President Donald Trump had differing takes following their meeting in Busan, South Korea, yesterday. Xi said that the two sides should complete follow-up work as soon as possible to deliver tangible results that would provide “peace of mind” to China, the US and the rest of the world, while Trump hailed the “great success” of the talks. The two discussed trade, including a deal to reduce tariffs slapped on China for its role in the fentanyl trade, as well as cooperation in ending the war in Ukraine, among other issues, but they did not mention