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.”
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS