The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) on Wednesday expressed appreciation to the European People’s Party (EPP) for condemning China’s increasing threats against Taiwan and supporting Taiwan as a “valuable partner” in the region.
The ministry’s statement came after the EPP, the largest of the European Parliament’s eight political groups, issued a position paper on EU-China relations, titled “EPP Position Paper: EU-China Relations in a COVID-19 World and Beyond.”
In the paper issued on Monday, the EPP condemned China for heightening its military threats against Taiwan, offered its support for Taiwan’s participation in international organizations and urged the EU to strengthen its cooperation with Taiwan, the ministry said.
“As China has increased the frequency of its infringements on Taiwan’s airspace and claims that there is no median line in the Taiwan Strait, the EPP group, which accounts for nearly 200 seats in the European Parliament, showed support to Taiwan with concrete action,” it said.
The Ministry of National Defense, which last month added a section to its Web site to publish information on the latest movements of the Chinese military near Taiwan, said that Chinese planes have approached Taiwan’s airspace eight times since Sept. 16.
The foreign ministry said that it is in the region’s best interests that the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait be maintained, as Beijing’s attempts to alter the “status quo” in the Strait have raised concerns in the international community.
“Taiwan’s government will continue to work with like-minded countries to maintain peace, stability and prosperity in the strait and in the region,” the foreign ministry said, citing the EPP’s position paper as saying that the party “strongly supports” enabling Taiwan to practically and meaningfully participate in international forums, such as the WHO.
The paper also condemned threats against Czech Senate President Milos Vystrcil, who visited Taiwan at the end of August and last month, as well as “China’s increasing threats of potential military intervention on the island.”
On other issues related to Asia, the EPP criticized Beijing for suppressing information on the initial outbreak of COVID-19 in central China, and expressed concern on the state of human rights and freedom in Hong Kong, Tibet and Xinjiang, as well as Beijing’s military expansion in the South China Sea.
“We therefore fully support efforts to strengthen EU cooperation with valued partners in the Asia-Pacific, in particular Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Taiwan,” the paper said.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
A Taiwanese academic yesterday said that Chinese Ambassador to Denmark Wang Xuefeng (王雪峰) disrespected Denmark and Japan when he earlier this year allegedly asked Japan’s embassy to make Taiwan’s representatives leave an event in Copenhagen. The Danish-language Berlingske on Sunday reported the incident in an article with the headline “The emperor’s birthday ended in drama in Copenhagen: More conflict may be on the way between Denmark and China.” It said that on Feb. 26, the Japanese embassy in Denmark held an event for Japanese Emperor Naruhito’s birthday, with about 200 guests in attendance, including representatives from Taiwan. After addressing the Japanese hosts, Wang
RSS