The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday expressed gratitude to ministers in Australia and the UK for stressing the critical importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and opposing unilateral changes to the “status quo” during the Australia-UK Ministerial Consultations (AUKMIN) on Friday.
Hosted in Sydney by Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong and Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense Richard Marles, the consultations also included British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Affairs David Lammy and British Secretary of State for Defense John Healey.
The joint statement issued after their meeting said that the ministers “agreed on the critical importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” adding that “they called for the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues through dialogue and not through the threat or use of force or coercion, and reaffirmed their opposition to unilateral changes to the status quo.”
Photo: EPA
The ministers also “expressed concern at China’s destabilizing military exercises around Taiwan,” the statement said.
The ministers “recognized that the international community benefits from the expertise of the people of Taiwan and committed to support Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations where statehood is not a prerequisite or as an observer or guest where it is,” it said.
The ministers also “reiterated their commitment to continue deepening relations with Taiwan in the economic, trade, scientific, technological and cultural fields,” it said.
In response, MOFA yesterday said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) sincerely welcomed and appreciated their statement.
Australia and the UK are like-minded partners of Taiwan, sharing the universal values of democracy, freedom and rule of law, it said.
The AUKMIN statement highlights that maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and in the Indo-Pacific region is a global consensus, MOFA said.
Taiwan, as an indispensable member of the international community, would continue to collaborate with like-minded democratic partners to uphold the rules-based international order and strengthen democracy, peace and prosperity in the region, it said.
Separately, MOFA said it welcomed a delegation of members from the Patriots for Europe Group in the European Parliament, who visited Taiwan from Sunday last week to Friday.
The delegation was led by the group’s chief whip, Anders Vistisen, and included vice chair Antonio Tanger Correa, Georg Mayer, and policy advisers Tobias Weische and Rodrigo Lopes Dias.
During their stay in Taiwan, the delegation met with Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), attended a banquet hosted by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) and engaged with several government officials, civic groups and think tank representatives, the ministry said.
The delegation exchanged ideas on a range of topics, including Taiwan’s political and economic landscape, the geopolitical situation in the Indo-Pacific region, Taiwan-EU trade relations and innovative technology.
The delegation also visited Kinmen to learn about the importance of Taiwan in the context of cross-strait history, strategic position and cultural continuity, and the background of its multicultural society and democratic development, it said.
Amid China’s increasing intimidation and “gray zone” harassment, democratic societies must be more united in defending freedom and democracy, Wu said, adding that in the face of China’s politicization of economic tools, Taiwan’s business community has significantly reduced its investment in China.
The ministry cited Tanger Correa as saying that China continues to invest in EU infrastructure to achieve its political goals, with its actions becoming more assertive and arbitrary.
Drawing from Portugal’s own experiences, the country deeply understands the importance of Taiwan’s freedom and democracy and also supports Taiwanese right to decide their future based on their own will, he said.
MOFA expressed its sincere gratitude to all members of the European Parliament for their tangible support for Taiwan, adding that Taiwan would continue to deepen cooperation and exchanges, strengthening democratic resilience and forging a firm and mutually beneficial partnership network.
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