The EU’s executive branch on Tuesday said that "China's military activities around Taiwan increase cross-strait tensions" and echoed Washington and Taipei's stance that the 1971 UN resolution Beijing uses to claim sovereignty over Taiwan requires clarification.
European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights Nicolas Schmit delivered a speech titled "On the misinterpretation of the UN Resolution 2758 and its continuous military provocations around Taiwan" at a European Parliament session.
In the speech, the EU official reiterated the regional bloc's long-held "one China" policy, which recognizes the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) as the sole legal government of China.
Photo: EPA
Despite this policy, the official — speaking on behalf of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/European Commission Vice President Josep Borrell — said the EU and Taiwan are "like-minded" and the European Commission opposes "any unilateral actions that change the status quo by force or coercion."
The European commissioner also reiterated the EU's stance that maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait are of "strategic importance for regional and global security and prosperity."
"It is for this reason that we follow very closely all developments around the Taiwan Strait. China's military activities around Taiwan increase cross-strait tensions," he said, referring to China's routine warship and aircraft operations around Taiwan as well as its large-scale military exercises that encircle the island, most recently on Monday last week.
Schmit reiterated the EU's stance that urges both sides of the Taiwan Strait to "exercise restraint and avoid any actions that may further escalate cross-strait tensions, which should be resolved through dialogue."
Meanwhile, for the first time, the European Commission official mentioned China's interpretation of UN Resolution 2758.
"United Nations Resolution 2758 is very short — only 150 words," Schmit said. "And among those 150 words, the word 'Taiwan' does not appear."
"The resolution switched representation in the United Nations from the 'representatives of Chiang Kai-shek' to the 'representatives of the Government of the People's Republic of China,'" he said, referring to the then-president of the Republic of China whose nationalist government relocated to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war to the communists.
"I welcome the European Parliament's focus on this issue and this important debate. We should take all opportunities to promote a more positive dynamic in cross-Strait relations, which contributes to peace, not only in the region, but also globally," Schmit said.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), Schmit's address is significant because it is the first time the European Commission, the executive branch of the EU, has "expressed its view" on the issue.
The European Parliament has already passed several resolutions criticizing China's "misinterpretation" of UN Resolution 2758.
In a statement, MOFA called on more countries around the world to join the EU and the US in addressing Beijing's "misinterpretation of the resolution" to uphold peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
Adopted by the 26th UN General Assembly in 1971, Resolution 2758 resulted in Taiwan losing its seat at the UN to the PRC.
Taiwan has since been prevented from joining the UN and participating in affiliated organizations.
However, in recent years, Taiwan and the US have called on the international community to face the issue of the PRC's "distortion" of Resolution 2758 as an excuse to claim sovereignty over Taiwan, which has never been ruled by the PRC.
During the recently concluded 79th session of the UN General Assembly, Taiwan said it intends to help the international community better understand Resolution 2758 this year so that Beijing can no longer "misuse" it to exclude Taiwan from the UN system.
RESPONSE: The transit sends a message that China’s alignment with other countries would not deter the West from defending freedom of navigation, an academic said Canadian frigate the Ville de Quebec and Australian guided-missile destroyer the Brisbane transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, the first time the two nations have conducted a joint freedom of navigation operation. The Canadian and Australian militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the passage, saying only that Taiwan’s armed forces had deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets, along with warships and combat aircraft, to safeguard security across the Strait. The two vessels were observed transiting northward along the eastern side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, with Japan being their most likely destination,
‘NOT ALONE’: A Taiwan Strait war would disrupt global trade routes, and could spark a worldwide crisis, so a powerful US presence is needed as a deterrence, a US senator said US Senator Deb Fischer on Thursday urged her colleagues in the US Congress to deepen Washington’s cooperation with Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific partners to contain the global security threat from China. Fischer and other lawmakers recently returned from an official trip to the Indo-Pacific region, where they toured US military bases in Hawaii and Guam, and visited leaders, including President William Lai (賴清德). The trip underscored the reality that the world is undergoing turmoil, and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region is crucial to the security interests of the US and its partners, she said. Her visit to Taiwan demonstrated ways the
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
RELEASED: Ko emerged from a courthouse before about 700 supporters, describing his year in custody as a period of ‘suffering’ and vowed to ‘not surrender’ Former Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was released on NT$70 million (US$2.29 million) bail yesterday, bringing an end to his year-long incommunicado detention as he awaits trial on corruption charges. Under the conditions set by the Taipei District Court on Friday, Ko must remain at a registered address, wear a GPS-enabled ankle monitor and is prohibited from leaving the country. He is also barred from contacting codefendants or witnesses. After Ko’s wife, Peggy Chen (陳佩琪), posted bail, Ko was transported from the Taipei Detention Center to the Taipei District Court at 12:20pm, where he was fitted with the tracking
RSS