Argentina on Wednesday night intensified its diplomatic offensive against Britain’s oil exploration off the Falkland Islands by taking the case to the UN.
Argentinian Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana was due to spell out Buenos Aires’ demands in a meeting in New York with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon just a day after mobilizing Latin American and Caribbean support.
Taiana was expected to press Argentina’s claim of sovereignty over the islands and to demand an immediate cessation of the British drilling for oil and gas that started this week.
He was due to detail “the latest illegitimate and unilateral actions by the UK,” the foreign ministry said in a statement on the eve of the meeting.
The next step would be to table a resolution at the UN general assembly.
The UN has called for talks between Britain and Argentina, but has little power to intervene without the backing of the security council, where the UK would be able to veto substantive resolutions.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva added pressure by saying the council was an anachronism tilted in favor of Western powers.
He said: “It is not possible that Argentina is not the owner while England is, despite being 14,000km away.”
He also repeated long-standing complaints that Brazil and other emerging powers should be included as permanent members of the security council.
British officials have privately admitted frustration, but no great surprise, that mainstream Latin leaders have thrown their weight behind Buenos Aires. A spokesman at the British prime minister’s office said drilling would continue.
“It is entirely for the Argentinians if they want to go to the UN,” said Simon Lewis, a spokesman for British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. “We continue to support the right of the Falkland Islands to develop their hydrocarbon sector. Our view is their commercial activity is entirely compatible with good relations with the government of Argentina.”
US President Barack Obama’s administration, which wants to improve US ties with Latin America without alienating Britain, sought to distance itself from the row.
“I think we are neutral on the question of sovereignty,” said Philip Crowley, a spokesman for the US State Department.
‘LAGGING BEHIND’: The NATO secretary-general called on democratic allies to be ‘clear-eyed’ about Beijing’s military buildup, urging them to boost military spending NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte mentioning China’s bullying of Taiwan and its ambition to reshape the global order has significance during a time when authoritarian states are continuously increasing their aggression, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. In a speech at the Carnegie Europe think tank in Brussels on Thursday, Rutte said Beijing is bullying Taiwan and would start to “nibble” at Taiwan if Russia benefits from a post-invasion peace deal with Ukraine. He called on democratic allies to boost defense investments and also urged NATO members to increase defense spending in the face of growing military threats from Russia
LEAP FORWARD: The new tanks are ‘decades more advanced than’ the army’s current fleet and would enable it to compete with China’s tanks, a source said A shipment of 38 US-made M1A2T Abrams tanks — part of a military procurement package from the US — arrived at the Port of Taipei early yesterday. The vehicles are the first batch of 108 tanks and other items that then-US president Donald Trump announced for Taiwan in 2019. The Ministry of National Defense at the time allocated NT$40.5 billion (US$1.25 billion) for the purchase. To accommodate the arrival of the tanks, the port suspended the use of all terminals and storage area machinery from 6pm last night until 7am this morning. The tanks are expected to be deployed at the army’s training
TECH CONFERENCE: Input from industry and academic experts can contribute to future policymaking across government agencies, President William Lai said Multifunctional service robots could be the next new area in which Taiwan could play a significant role, given its strengths in chip manufacturing and software design, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman and chief executive C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said yesterday. “In the past two months, our customers shared a lot of their future plans with me. Artificial intelligence [AI] and AI applications were the most talked about subjects in our conversation,” Wei said in a speech at the National Science and Technology Conference in Taipei. TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, counts Nvidia Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc, Apple Inc and
PEACEFUL RESOLUTION: A statement issued following a meeting between Australia and Britain reiterated support for Taiwan and opposition to change in the Taiwan Strait Canada should support the peaceful resolution of Taiwan’s destiny according to the will of Taiwanese, Canadian lawmakers said in a resolution marking the second anniversary of that nation’s Indo-Pacific strategy on Monday. The Canadian House of Commons committee on Canada-Chinese relations made the comment as part of 34 recommendations for the new edition of the strategy, adding that Ottawa should back Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, first published in October 2022, emphasized that the region’s security, trade, human rights, democracy and environmental protection would play a crucial role in shaping Canada’s future. The strategy called for Canada to deepen
RSS