The Australian Senate on Wednesday unanimously passed an “urgency motion” in support of Taiwan’s sovereignty and participation in international organizations.
Senators agreed by vote to move the motion “that United Nations Resolution 2758 of 25th October 1971 does not establish the People’s Republic of China’s [PRC] sovereignty over Taiwan and does not determine the future status of Taiwan in the United Nations, nor Taiwanese participation in UN agencies or international organizations.”
The motion was cosponsored by Australian senators David Fawcett and Deborah O’Neill, both of whom visited Taiwan last month to attend the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China’s (IPAC) annual conference.
Photo: Reuters
Addressing Parliament House in Canberra, Fawcett said that the motion was “urgent” because of the “growing risk to the security and stability in the Indo-Pacific” region.
“It’s important not just for the human rights of the 23.5 million people in the democracy that is Taiwan, but for the impact that a decrease in security and a conflict there would have on the rules-based order that underpins peace and security around the world, as well as for the global economic impact, which Australia would not escape,” Fawcett said.
O’Neill followed Fawcett’s remarks by saying that “the resolution does not mention Taiwan or address its political status.”
“Despite this fact, there is an ongoing and egregious campaign currently underway from the PRC to reinterpret the resolution and misrepresent what the resolution actually does,” she said, referring to China’s attempts to minimize Taiwan’s participation in the international community.
O’Neill said it was “not in the interest of the international community to have 24 million Taiwanese excluded” from critical bodies such as the International Civil Aviation Organization and the WHO.
Australian Senator Jacqui Lambie said that “the people of Taiwan continuously reject reunification [sic] with the Chinese Communist Party, with less than 5 percent of support for the reunification in Taiwan.”
“The Chinese Communist Party has no business in destroying democracy in Taiwan,” Lambie said. “Australia must stand up against the Chinese Communist Party and back the more than 22 million people of Taiwan who choose democracy and freedom over the authoritarianism of the Chinese Communist Party.”
Australian Senator Raff Ciccone said that Australia’s economic, trade and cultural interests with Taiwan “cannot be understated.”
Pledging to continue energy cooperation and support Taiwan’s transition to renewable energies, Ciccone told the house that Australia was Taiwan’s largest energy supplier, contributing “around two-thirds of Taiwan’s coal and almost half of its natural gas.”
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday welcomed the motion, describing it as “just.”
“MOFA strongly affirms the Australian parliament’s firm support for Taiwan’s international participation and thanks Australia and IPAC for speaking out for Taiwan,” it said. “We also call on the international community to jointly counter China’s misinterpretation of UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 and China’s attempts to make false connections between the resolution and the so-called ‘one China’ principle.”
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