US Congressman Robert Wexler, also the co-chair of the Congress-ional Taiwan Caucus, yesterday voiced strong support for the "defensive referendum" planned by the Taiwanese government and urged the world to help Taiwan join the World Health Organization (WHO).
Wexler, a member of the US House of Representatives, said in a keynote speech at the 1st Annual Convention of the International Parliamentary Forum for Asia-Pacific Security held in Taipei yesterday that as Beijing continues its belligerent build-up of missiles across the Taiwan Strait, it is critical for the US to renew its commitment to Taiwan's security and defense.
Wexler said the increased cooperation between the US and China in the war against terror and in negotiations with North Korea should not come at the expense of US relations with Taiwan.
PHOTO: AP
He said the George W. Bush administration's recent kowtowing to Beijing in opposing a defensive referendum in Taiwan had compromised its moral authority to lead, while the US remains mute over the military excesses of China's authoritarian regime.
"In the past month, many have questioned Washington's recent failure to acknowledge the military threat from Beijing while vocally opposing a defensive referendum in Taiwan," Wexler said. "This policy stands in stark contradiction to the Bush administration's stated policy of advancing democracy throughout the world.
"The very suggestion that an exercise of democracy is a greater provocation than that posed by 496 missiles emanating from the People's Republic of China is an absurd policy that violates the core principles of the US," Wexler told a luncheon gathering of more than 150 parliamentary members from 50 countries.
"America must now reaffirm the importance of our bilateral ties with Taiwan and applaud its strong system of governance that promotes freedom and protects the rule of law. Rather than pay homage to the rigidity of the Chinese system, we should highlight Taiwan's democratic evolution because it serves as a highly successful model for political liberalization throughout the world," he said.
Wexler also voiced keen support for Taiwan's bid to join international organizations, particularly the WHO.
"It is unconscionable that 23 million Taiwanese people have been excluded from receiving the benefits of membership status in the WHO ... impairing its crisis response teams and creating a wall of separation between Taiwan and the global health care community," he said.
"Healthcare is an issue that transcends borders and politics and is addressed most effectively through international cooperation and collaborative support. This is why we must renew our conviction to assist Taiwan in its effort to obtain observer status at the World Health Assembly this May," Wexler said.
Vice President Annette Lu (
She described China as a ferocious lion and Taiwan as a "kitty cat" to demonstrate the relationship between China and Taiwan.
"Imagine what results will come if the kitty cat is forced into the arms of the lion? The consequence of that must be bloody. Only when the lion is caged and dealt with [according to] the rules of the zoo can other small animals such as doves, rabbits and kitties live peacefully together," Lu said.
Lu also said Beijing's suppression of Taiwan's democracy and intention to annex Taiwan were aimed at the ultimate goal of building a "Chinese kingdom," turning itself from a continental hegemony to a sea power through its control over the Taiwan Strait.
She said China's 496 missiles aimed at Taiwan could reach Taiwan proper within seven minutes and could carry nuclear warheads.
Given that every day more than 400 foreign cargo ships pass through the Taiwan Strait and more than 350 planes fly through Taiwan's airspace, China's threat to international stability and economic prosperity is obvious, Lu said.
Other visiting members of parliament from around the world yesterday also expressed support for Taiwan's plans to hold a defensive referendum.
Thomas Cox, a British MP and chief of the UK's delegation, said yesterday: "It is not Taiwan, or any of the policies it follows, that threaten the PRC. The policies of the PRC threaten this country [Taiwan]. The referendum will give the Taiwanese people the democratic choice to vote as they wish. That is democracy. And we should all fully support that."
Norwegian MP Trond Helleland urged his European colleagues to support a democratic Taiwan in the face of China's threats.
"Small nations believing in democracy should stand up and say no to dictatorship. European nations should recognize Taiwan. What comes first? Democracy should come before dictatorship," Helleland said.
The two-day convention, which started on Tuesday night and ended yesterday, was sponsored by the Legislative Yuan, the Taiwan-USA Inter-Parliamentary Amity Association, the Washington-based Formosan Association for Public Affairs and the Taipei-based Formosa Foundation.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS