The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday thanked the House of Representatives of the Netherlands for passing a resolution stating that UN Resolution 2758 does not involve Taiwan, making it the first parliamentary body in Europe to approve such a motion.
The Taiwan-friendly motion was overwhelmingly approved by 146 of the House’s 150 members on Thursday.
It states that UN Resolution 2758 does not determine the sovereignty of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) over Taiwan, nor does it preclude Taiwan’s participation in the UN or other international bodies.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The approval of the motion is significant for Taiwan, especially as the 79th session of the UN General Assembly just convened on Wednesday, the ministry said.
While the PRC has mischaracterized the UN resolution to block Taiwan’s international participation, it is in the interest of the Netherlands for Taiwan to be a part of global organizations such as the International Civil Aviation Organization and the WHO, the ministry cited the motion as saying.
The Dutch parliament’s move follows the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China’s (IPAC) passage of a similar motion in July and another by the Australian parliament last month, the ministry said.
The bipartisan motion was proposed by 13 parliamentary members from the Democrats 66 party, including IPAC cochair Jan Patternote, it said, adding that this was the third time the Dutch parliament has taken firm action to support Taiwan.
The Dutch House in April passed a motion to support Taiwan’s international participation, and another in May to urge the Dutch government to unite with the EU and like-minded countries to oppose China’s military drills around Taiwan and support maintaining the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, the ministry said.
Separately, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus secretary-general Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) told a news conference that she expects more democratic allies to speak up for Taiwan.
The motion won approval from up to 14 parties at the Dutch parliament, she said, calling on the UN to reinterpret the resolution to stop China from continuously distorting and using it to suppress Taiwan’s participation in the international community.
The DPP caucus will put forward a similar motion in the upcoming legislative term to “support our nation ourselves,” Wu said, adding that she hoped that the opposition and ruling parties would support Taiwan together.
DPP Legislator Fan Yun (范雲) said she was glad to see that the influence of the IPAC in favor of Taiwan has extended to parliaments of countries like the Netherlands, adding that she expects more countries to join the effort.
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