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.
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
Taiwanese can file complaints with the Tourism Administration to report travel agencies if their activities caused termination of a person’s citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday, after a podcaster highlighted a case in which a person’s citizenship was canceled for receiving a single-use Chinese passport to enter Russia. The council is aware of incidents in which people who signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of Russia were told they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, Chiu told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Taipei. However, the travel agencies actually applied
New measures aimed at making Taiwan more attractive to foreign professionals came into effect this month, the National Development Council said yesterday. Among the changes, international students at Taiwanese universities would be able to work in Taiwan without a work permit in the two years after they graduate, explainer materials provided by the council said. In addition, foreign nationals who graduated from one of the world’s top 200 universities within the past five years can also apply for a two-year open work permit. Previously, those graduates would have needed to apply for a work permit using point-based criteria or have a Taiwanese company
The Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday indicted two Taiwanese and issued a wanted notice for Pete Liu (劉作虎), founder of Shenzhen-based smartphone manufacturer OnePlus Technology Co (萬普拉斯科技), for allegedly contravening the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) by poaching 70 engineers in Taiwan. Liu allegedly traveled to Taiwan at the end of 2014 and met with a Taiwanese man surnamed Lin (林) to discuss establishing a mobile software research and development (R&D) team in Taiwan, prosecutors said. Without approval from the government, Lin, following Liu’s instructions, recruited more than 70 software
Chinese spouse and influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China videos that threaten national security, the National Immigration Agency confirmed today. Guan Guan has said many controversial statements in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” and expressing hope for expedited reunification. The agency last year received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification. After verifying the reports, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and explain her actions. Guan
RSS