Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) and Suzanne Lawrence — special adviser for children’s issues at the US Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs — yesterday jointly hailed as a success the first Taiwan-US meeting on issues related to transnational child abduction.
The meeting was made possible after the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Washington on April 12 signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Cooperation on International Parental Child Abduction.
Based on the MOU, they appointed representatives from the bureau and the Ministry of Health and Welfare to form a joint commission to tackle and prevent cross-border abductions of children.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
After yesterday’s meeting, Chen and Lawrence shared held a news conference at the AIT in Taipei.
Transnational parental child abductions happen when parents take children to other nations without the other parent’s consent, leading to their loss of contact with the child, a problem in Taiwan and the US, Chen said.
Both sides have reached a consensus to safeguard children’s rights and interests, he said.
The two sides are to meet every six months, Chen said, reiterating the importance of “leaving no one behind” in health-related issues.
Asked about specific issues discussed during the meeting, Lawrence said attendees discussed how to locate abducted children, the limitations of privacy laws that prevent efforts to locate the children and potentially creative solutions.
Parents left behind are often worried about their child’s welfare so attendees also addressed how to confirm a child’s status, she said, adding that it is crucial to bring together experts in the field.
The US is looking forward to deepening its cooperation with Taiwan in this area and many other issues of significance in the coming years, Lawrence said.
As Taiwan has no access to The Hague Convention — a channel for the US to collaborate with other nations to prevent child abductions, the MOU is an alternative channel for Taiwan to join related efforts, the AIT said.
Taiwan is one of the few nations outside the convention, in addition to Saudi Arabia, which — unlike Taiwan — refused to join it, the AIT added.
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