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.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
The Taipei MRT is to begin accepting mobile payment services in the fall, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said on Saturday. When the company finishes the installation of new payment units at ticketing gates in October, MRT passengers can use credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, the operator said. In addition, the MRT would also provide QR payment codes — which would be compatible with Line Pay, Jkopay, iPass Money, PXPay Plus, EasyWallet, iCash Pay, Taiwan Pay and Taishin Pay — to access the railway system. Currently, passengers can access the Taipei MRT by buying a single-journey token or using EasyCard,
RSS