Safeguarding Taiwan’s sovereignty is in the interest of the UK and the entire world, visiting British MP Sarah Champion told President William Lai (賴清德) at the Presidential Office in Taipei yesterday.
Lai met with a delegation from the British-Taiwanese All-Party Parliamentary Group, who reaffirmed the UK’s support for Taiwan and increased trade between the two nations.
“Taiwan-UK relations have advanced significantly in recent years. I would especially like to thank our distinguished guests, as well as the UK parliament and government, for continuing to demonstrate support for Taiwan,” Lai said.
Photo courtesy of the Presidential Office via CNA
The British House of Commons in November unanimously passed a pro-Taiwan motion, stating that “UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 does not mention Taiwan,” he said.
The Enhanced Trade Partnership agreement signed between Taiwan and the UK is “the first institutionalized economic and trade framework signed between Taiwan and any European country,” he added.
“We hope to swiftly conclude negotiations on signing sub-arrangements on investment, digital trade and energy, and net zero transition ... [to] facilitate even more exchanges and cooperation between Taiwan and the UK,” he said.
“We also hope that the UK will continue to support Taiwan’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership,” he added, emphasizing the importance of a resilient global supply chain.
“Together, we can create win-win developments for both Taiwan and the UK, and Taiwan and European nations,” Lai said.
Champion thanked the president for his warm welcome and hospitality.
The all-party delegation includes newly elected members of the British Parliament, showing the UK’s unwavering commitment to Taiwan, Champion said.
The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China’s meeting in July last year was especially significant, as legislators from 23 countries expressed their support for Taiwan, she said.
The US has now “come out very much in support of Taiwan,” which would hopefully encourage other countries around the world to do the same, she said.
Taiwan and the UK are to hold their 27th trade negotiations and are continuing to strengthen their friendship, Champion added.
The delegation also includes British lawmakers Jeremy Purvis, Ben Spencer, Helena Dollimore, Noah Law and David Reed.
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
RIGHT DIRECTION: Taiwan’s efforts to prevent forced labor include a proposal to ‘fully prohibit’ employers from withholding workers’ documents, an official said Taiwan is to establish a mechanism to restrict imports of goods linked to forced labor, the Executive Yuan said yesterday, after the US proposed imposing additional tariffs on Taiwanese goods over labor concerns. “The Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Economic Affairs are to establish an interministerial review procedure,” Executive Yuan spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “The government is to use the Foreign Trade Act [貿易法] as the legal basis to restrict imports of goods produced with forced labor” and bring its supply chain governance more in line with international standards on human rights, resilience
NOT IMMEDIATE: Taiwan has a chance to appeal the proposed 10 percent tariff before it starts, while other countries face a 12.5 percent tariff from the trade office Taiwan is among 60 economies determined by the US to have failed to impose or enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labor, according to a notice released on Tuesday by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), which proposed imposing an additional 10 percent or more tariff on them. The USTR in a statement said that following an investigation, it had determined under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 that the failure of the 60 economies to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor is
TIT-FOR-TAT: The US allegedly revoked the visa of a Chinese national working at Xinhua News Agency in the US in response to Beijing’s expulsion of Vivian Wang The Presidential Office yesterday condemned China for expelling a New York Times correspondent from Beijing following the newspaper’s interview with President William Lai (賴清德), saying the move highlighted Beijing’s suppression of press freedom and its threat to international news media. Taiwan has noted a series of recent incidents in which Beijing used similar tactics to “threaten and pressure international media outlets and journalists,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said in a statement. “This concerns not only press freedom and freedom of expression, but also the safety of journalists, and Taiwan and relevant partners are paying close attention to the situation,” she
RSS