A British Royal Navy patrol vessel yesterday sailed through the Taiwan Strait, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and the British Office Taipei said today.
The ministry said that it welcomed the transit of the HMS Spey as affirmation that the UK is taking concrete action to safeguard freedom of navigation.
It demonstrated that the UK regards the Taiwan Strait as international waters, the ministry told a news conference.
Photo: AFP
Like-minded countries such as the UK are welcome to safeguard peace and stability in the Strait, promote freedom and openness in the Indo-Pacific and maintain the rules-based international order, the ministry said.
The HMS Spey operated in accordance with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the British Office Taipei said.
Wherever the Royal Navy operates, it does so in full compliance with international law, the office said, adding that the Royal Navy’s exercise of freedom of navigation in the Taiwan Strait is not unprecedented.
In other news, the ministry criticized the inclusion of the false claim that Taiwan is part of China in a joint declaration adopted by Beijing and five of its allies at the second China-Central Asia Summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, which ran from Monday to Wednesday.
The ministry said in a statement that it strongly condemns the outrageous remarks Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) made at the summit claiming that Taiwan is an inseparable part of China.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) government has used public occasions such as meetings between heads of state to undermine Taiwan's sovereignty, it said.
The ministry said it protests and condemns the leaders and officials from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan for echoing Beijing's stance, which became part of the Astana Declaration signed during the summit.
Neither the Republic of China (Taiwan's formal name) nor the People's Republic of China are subordinate to one another, and the CCP has never governed Taiwan, the ministry said.
Therefore, no country should seek to deny Taiwan's existence by issuing a joint declaration, it said.
It also urged the five countries to stop backing statements made by Beijing that are not factual and are intended to destabilize peace in the region.
Additional reporting by Huang Ching-hsuan
A drunk woman was sexually assaulted inside a crowded concourse of Taipei Railway Station on Thursday last week before a foreign tourist notified police, leading to calls for better education on bystander intervention and review of security infrastructure. The man, surnamed Chiu (邱), was taken into custody on charges of sexual assault, taking advantage of the woman’s condition and public indecency. Police discovered that Chiu was a fugitive with prior convictions for vehicle theft. He has been taken into custody and is to complete his unserved six-month sentence, police said. On Thursday last week, Chiu was seen wearing a white
The Taoyuan Flight Attendants’ Union yesterday vowed to protest at the EVA Air Marathon on Sunday next week should EVA Airway Corp’s management continue to ignore the union’s petition to change rules on employees’ leave of absence system, after a flight attendant reportedly died after working on a long-haul flight while ill. The case has generated public discussion over whether taking personal or sick leave should affect a worker’s performance review. Several union members yesterday protested at the Legislative Yuan, holding white flowers and placards, while shouting: “Life is priceless; requesting leave is not a crime.” “The union is scheduled to meet with
‘UNITED FRONT’ RHETORIC: China’s TAO also plans to hold weekly, instead of biweekly, news conferences because it wants to control the cross-strait discourse, an expert said China’s plan to expand its single-entry visa-on-arrival service to Taiwanese would be of limited interest to Taiwanese and is a feeble attempt by Chinese administrators to demonstrate that they are doing something, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) spokesman Chen Binhua (陳斌華) said the program aims to facilitate travel to China for Taiwanese compatriots, regardless of whether they are arriving via direct flights or are entering mainland China through Hong Kong, Macau or other countries, and they would be able to apply for a single-entry visa-on-arrival at all eligible entry points in China. The policy aims
The government yesterday donated US$200,000 to the Philippines to support post-earthquake relief and recovery efforts, following a powerful magnitude 6.9 quake that struck Cebu Province late last month, killing at least 72 people and injuring 559 others. The donation was presented earlier yesterday by Representative to the Philippines Wallace Chow (周民淦) to Cherbett Maralit, deputy resident representative of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office, at Taiwan’s representative office in Manila. In his remarks, Chow expressed concern for those affected by the magnitude 6.9 earthquake that struck the central Philippines on the night of Sept. 30. "We sincerely hope for the earliest possible
RSS