The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday expressed its appreciation for the Australia-New Zealand Foreign and Defence Ministers Consultations’ (ANZMIN) joint statement reaffirming the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters and New Zealand Minister of Defense Judith Collins hosted Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles and Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong in Auckland for the second ANZMIN on Friday.
The ministers issued a joint statement after the meeting, in which they reiterated the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and their shared opposition to unilateral changes to the “status quo,” the ministry said, adding that it welcomes and appreciates the statement.
Photo: AP
The joint statement says the ministers “called for the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues through dialogue, without the threat or use of force or coercion.”
“They also reiterated their will to continue deepening relations with Taiwan in the economic, trade and cultural fields, as well as enhancing development coordination in the Pacific,” it says.
The ministry said Australia and New Zealand are Taiwan’s important friends in the Indo-Pacific region, and that there has been great progress in bilateral relationships with the two nations in recent years.
Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea has become a global consensus, so the ministry welcomes the international society’s continuous expression of concern and them taking action in protecting the rule-based international order, the ministry said.
Taiwan remains committed to promoting values-based diplomacy and jointly safeguarding democracy, peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific, it said.
In other news, the ministry yesterday said it welcomed a World Medical Association (WMA) delegation, which included WMA president Ashok Philip, council chair Jung Yul Park and secretary-general Otmar Kloiber.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) met with the delegation on Friday, welcoming them to Taiwan and expressing gratitude to the association for consistently supporting Taiwan’s participation in the WHO and its related mechanisms over the years, the ministry said.
Tien also said he hoped that Taiwan can cooperate with the WMA in other global healthcare issues and that Taiwanese physicians can form deeper partnerships with the association in the future, the ministry said.
“Taiwan is a force for good in the international society, willing to share our resources and experiences, such as donating medical resources to more than 80 countries during the [COVID-19] pandemic and pushing forward the ‘one country, one [medical] center’ program to help other countries improve their healthcare quality,” the ministry quoted Tien as saying.
Philip praised the nation’s advanced healthcare development and stressed the importance of Taiwan’s participation in the global health system, the ministry said.
South Korea had learned from Taiwan’s healthcare system, it cited Park as saying, adding that he had said he would be glad to see Taiwan included in international society.
Meanwhile, Kloiber said Taiwanese healthcare development ranks high and that its participation in the global public health system would be beneficial to the nation and the world, the ministry said.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
RSS