President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Friday at the Third Copenhagen Democracy Summit said it was the responsibility of democracies to help the rest of the world become free.
“Those privileged to live in a democracy must never rest until the entire world can share in the birthright that is freedom,” Tsai said in her eight-minute video at the summit, which was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tsai said that Taiwan stands on the front line of the global community of democracies, and it looks forward to forging closer cooperation with like-minded democracies.
She also discussed Hong Kong, saying that Taiwan would continue to provide humanitarian assistance to the territory, which is due to mark the 23rd anniversary of its handover to China.
The territory is facing growing concerns that its autonomy and freedoms would erode under national security legislation, which the Chinese government drafted last month and is expected to implement in the coming months, she said.
“In particular, our thoughts today are with the people of Hong Kong. Taiwan has joined the international community in urging the Beijing authorities to honor their obligation to respect Hong Kong’s fundamental freedoms,” Tsai said.
Tsai also addressed Taiwan’s success in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.
She said that the nation was fortunate to have been better prepared than most in dealing with the coronavirus crisis.
“We learned important lessons from the SARS outbreak in 2003 so that we would never be caught off guard again,” she said.
With the right measures, “it is possible to control the spread of the virus without sacrificing our most important democratic principles,” she added.
Tsai said she was disappointed that the WHO “put politics before health” when it did not invite Taiwan to share its experience at this year’s World Health Assembly (WHA).
“Nevertheless, we stand ready to support any country that needs our help,” Tsai said
Taiwan has so far donated essential medical supplies to more than 80 countries, including more than 52 million masks, she said.
“For Taiwan, offering help has never been a question of quid pro quo. It is simply what friends do in times of need,” she added.
The event, held on Thursday and Friday, also included speeches from US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and former US secretaries of state John Kerry and Madeleine Albright, who spoke by videoconference or through prerecorded videos.
The summit was organized by the Alliance of Democracies, a non-governmental organization established in 2017 by Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who is a former Danish prime minister and NATO secretary-general.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
RSS