Mon, Sep 04, 2023 page3

• Support of Taiwan in UN supports peace: Wu

  SEEKING UNITY: Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu and independent Legislator Freddy Lim urged IPAC attendees in Prague to stand together against authoritarianism

  • By Liu Tzu-hsuan / Staff reporter
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  Supporting Taiwan’s bid to join the UN supports peace, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) wrote in an op-ed ahead of the opening of the UN’s 78th session of the General Assembly tomorrow.

  In the article published on Saturday in the US magazine The National Interest, Wu urged the UN to “uphold its principle of leaving no one behind” by allowing the meaningful participation of Taiwanese in the global body.

  “Allowing Taiwan to meaningfully participate in the UN system would benefit the world’s efforts to address pressing global issues and demonstrate the UN’s determination to unite for global peace at a critical juncture when the future of the world is at stake,” Wu wrote.

  

  The UN headquarters building is pictured with a UN logo in the Manhattan borough of New York on March 1 last year.

  Photo: Reuters

  The UN Charter calls for peaceful settlement of international disputes and the UN serves as the best forum for tackling global challenges, which “Taiwan is willing and able to take part in,” he said.

  Ensuring peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is also “in the interest of every country in the world,” as the Strait plays a major role in commercial shipping and Taiwan is one of the largest suppliers of semiconductors, he said.

  The free world has been inspired by Ukrainians in the wake of Russia’s invasion last year, coming together to forge a “new sense of democratic solidarity around the world” to safeguard universal values and global peace, Wu said.

  It is crucial to prevent “a gross violation of human rights” such as Russia’s invasion from happening elsewhere, he said, calling for international attention to China’s constant threats against Taiwan and the region.

  China poses a growing threat to Taiwan, as it encroaches on the nation’s air defense identification zone and uses disinformation and economic coercion in an attempt “to wear down our will to fight,” he said.

  Beijing has also attempted to expand its power and solidify its false territorial claims in the East and South China seas, he said.

  A new version of the Chinese national map published on Monday last week by Beijing caused outrage among its neighbors as it includes regions such as contested areas in the South China Sea, as well as the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh and the disputed Aksai Chin plateau.

  Wu said that “authoritarian governments need to know that they will be held accountable for their aggression, and the only way to settle differences is through peaceful means.”

  Separately, in Prague, he called on democratic countries to work together to deter authoritarian expansionism in a pre-recorded closing remark for the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) on Saturday.

  Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s aggressive measures against people in Xinjiang, Tibet, Hong Kong and Taiwan are threatening regional peace and undermining the rules-based international order, Wu said.

  Taiwan firmly supports Ukraine and condemns Russia, while commending the efforts of the US, Japan, Australia, the Philippines and other countries to jointly deter China’s provocative behavior in the Indo-Pacific region, he said.

  Independent Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) was among the more than 50 lawmakers from 30 countries gathered at the annual summit on Friday and Saturday.

  Lim said it is crucial for democratic countries to cooperate in working against authoritarian regimes, and invited alliance members to hold the summit in Taiwan next year.

  IPAC was launched by British lawmaker and former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith in 2020. The founding members include Australia, Canada, the European Parliament, Germany, Japan, Norway, Sweden, the UK and the US, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

  The alliance is dedicated to coordinating how democratic countries approach China, seeking to do so in a way that safeguards shared values such as freedom, democracy, human rights and a rules-based international order, it said.

  Additional reporting by Yang Cheng-yu
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