The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday thanked members of the Dutch House of Representatives for passing a motion on Sept. 11 calling for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations.
The motion, introduced by Jan Paternotte of the Democrats 66 party, who also serves as cochair of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China for the Netherlands, was backed by lawmakers across party lines. It passed with 147 votes in favor and three against.
The motion stated that UN Resolution 2758 “addresses the representation of China in the UN, but does not stipulate that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has sovereignty over Taiwan, nor does it make any statements about Taiwan’s participation in the UN or other international organizations.”
Photo: Reuters
It said the Netherlands, together with other democracies, has a responsibility to resist threats and intimidation targeting free and democratic societies.
The motion also said that the Netherlands has an interest in Taiwan’s representation at the WHO, the International Civil Aviation Organization, the UN Climate Change Conference and the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol).
It called on the Dutch government to “actively advocate for Taiwan’s meaningful participation during the UN General Assembly and at annual meetings of UN organizations and to submit proposals to this end, together with other countries, and proceed to the agenda.”
MOFA yesterday expressed its appreciation to members of the Dutch House of Representatives for their strong support for Taiwan during the General Assembly session, which runs from Sept. 9 to Tuesday next week.
The latest motion builds on four others passed by the Dutch parliament in April, which included calls for the Dutch government to condemn Chinese military escalation, send a government-level delegation to Taiwan, deepen bilateral trade ties and support Taiwan’s participation in the WHO, the ministry said.
Reaffirming the long-standing friendship between Taiwan and the Netherlands, the ministry said Taiwan would continue to expand cooperation with the Netherlands in key areas, including semiconductor supply chain resilience, information security management and next-generation communications.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
The National Immigration Agency has banned two Chinese from returning to Taiwan, after they published social media content it described as disrespectful to national sovereignty. The agency imposed a two-month ban on a Chinese man surnamed Liang (梁) and a permanent ban on a woman surnamed Yang (楊), an influencer with 23 million followers, in October last year and last week respectively. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) yesterday said on the sidelines of a legislative meeting that Chinese visitors to Taiwan are required to comply with the rules and regulations governing their entry permits. The government has handled the ban and
RSS