The two-day Yushan Forum started today in Taipei under the theme of “New Southbound Policy+: Taiwan, the Indo-Pacific and a New World.”
“Taiwan will continue to engage with the world, and we welcome the world to come closer to Taiwan,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at the opening ceremony.
Organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation, the forum is taking place today and tomorrow.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
In addition to Lai, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) and foundation president Michael Hsiao (蕭新煌), international participants such as former Danish prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, former Slovenian prime minister Janez Jansa, Czech Senator Pavel Fischer and American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene are also in attendance, the ministry said in a news release.
Taiwan’ continues to show its commitment to “democracy, freedom, high-end technology and social innovation, fostering strong partnerships with like-minded allies,” Michael Hsiao said.
The new “New Southbound Policy Plus” policy would see the nation establish “six corridors” of collaboration with participating nations: technology, health, resilience, think tanks, non-governmental organizations and young people, he said.
Taiwan is a “beacon of liberty, a testament of how people thrive in freedom,” Rasmussen said.
Referencing ongoing global geopolitical tensions, Rasmussen said that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) “is watching Ukraine,” and democracies must work together to signal collective strength and commitments.
“Taiwan belongs to the family of democracies,” Rasmussen added.
“Taiwan is increasingly becoming a crucial pillar of peace and stability, not only for the Indo-Pacific region, but the entire world,” Jansa said.
Japan would continue its deepening ties with Taiwan and would cooperate with Taiwan on its commitments to democracy and regional stability, said Keiji Furuya, chairman of the Japan-ROC Diet Members’ Consultative Council and Member of the House of Representatives in Japan’s National Legislature.
“A Taiwan contingency is a Japan contingency,” Furuya said, repeating a statement by former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe’s policy on maintaining peace in East Asia.
Looking at the US, Greene said that the US stands with its regional allies to promote shared interests and regional stability.
Referencing Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s plans to expand manufacturing in the US, Greene said Taiwan plays a crucial role in “reindustrializing the United States.”
The forum is to continue for another day tomorrow, featuring more remarks from high-level officials from Taiwan as well as like-minded nations.
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
Taiwan yesterday denied Chinese allegations that its military was behind a cyberattack on a technology company in Guangzhou, after city authorities issued warrants for 20 suspects. The Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau earlier yesterday issued warrants for 20 people it identified as members of the Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM). The bureau alleged they were behind a May 20 cyberattack targeting the backend system of a self-service facility at the company. “ICEFCOM, under Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, directed the illegal attack,” the warrant says. The bureau placed a bounty of 10,000 yuan (US$1,392) on each of the 20 people named in
The High Court yesterday found a New Taipei City woman guilty of charges related to helping Beijing secure surrender agreements from military service members. Lee Huei-hsin (李慧馨) was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for breaching the National Security Act (國家安全法), making illegal compacts with government employees and bribery, the court said. The verdict is final. Lee, the manager of a temple in the city’s Lujhou District (蘆洲), was accused of arranging for eight service members to make surrender pledges to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in exchange for money, the court said. The pledges, which required them to provide identification
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the
RSS