More than 100 dignitaries from 17 nations are in Taiwan for a three-day gathering of the Asian-Pacific Parliamentarians’ Union (APPU), which began yesterday and is discussing issues including trade and the marine environment.
The gathering opened at the Grand Hotel in Taipei with a closed-door meeting of the members of the union’s council and was to be followed in the evening by a dinner hosted by the Legislative Yuan.
The main event is today’s general assembly, which is being held for the 10th time in Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, an organizer of the event, said in a statement.
It was previously held in Taiwan in 2014.
The theme of the general assembly, to be chaired by Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全), is “Ocean Democracy and a Sustainable Indo-Pacific Region.”
The agenda includes topics such as ocean waste management, marine ecology and conservation, oceanic cultural innovation, low-carbon and sustainable homeland initiatives, and the strengthening of economic cooperation, the ministry said.
Dignitaries from Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Germany and Taiwan’s six Pacific diplomatic allies, among others, are attending the event. Forty-eight of the gathering’s participants are lawmakers.
Aside from Palau, Taiwan’s five other Pacific allies are represented at the event by their parliamentary speakers.
The APPU was first organized in Tokyo in 1965 as the Asian Parliamentarians’ Union through the initiative of parliamentarians from Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Thailand.
Their goal was to secure peace and prosperity in Asia by achieving and preserving freedom and democracy.
The organization was renamed in 1980 after Pacific nations were admitted.
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