The United Kingdom would welcome any efforts by the two sides of the Taiwan Strait to reduce tensions and to find a mutually acceptable basis for a resumption of peaceful dialogue, a House of Lords spokeswoman on defense, foreign, commonwealth and international development affairs said last week.
Baroness Crawley, government whip in the House of Lords, made the remarks during a debate on UK-Taiwan relations. She was responding to questions raised in the debate about China's military threat to Taiwan and potential conflict between the two sides, according to a transcript of the debate in the House of Lords.
While agreeing that the future of Taiwan is a matter for the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to settle among themselves, Baroness Crawley said: "We would view with extreme concern any recourse to military action."
"We take every suitable opportunity to convey to the Chinese government our strong opposition to the use of force," she added.
Lord Faulkner of Worcester, a Labour Party member who serves as a vice chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on Taiwan, pointed out that China now has 500 missiles pointing at targets in Taiwan, and that this military threat would have been a sufficient reason for the EU not to lift its ban on the sale of arms to Beijing.
Lord Russell-Johnston of the Liberal Democratic Party said it was a good thing that Great Britain resisted lifting the EU ban on weapons sales to China. He noted that Beijing has never apologized for the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre that led the EU to introduce the ban.
In reply, Baroness Crawley said the EU is currently conducting a review on its arms embargo on China, and that it would inappropriate for her to comment on the issue before the end of that review.
Lord Faulkner expressed disappointment that the UK government did not follow the lead of the US and Japan in backing Taiwan's application for observer status at the World Health Assembly in May.
He pointed out that Taiwan has made remarkable progress in improving standards of public health and has shared these advances with many developing countries.
Civil society groups yesterday protested outside the Legislative Yuan, decrying Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) efforts to pass three major bills that they said would seriously harm Taiwan’s democracy, and called to oust KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁). It was the second night of the three-day “Bluebird wintertime action” protests in Taipei, with organizers announcing that 8,000 people attended. Organized by Taiwan Citizen Front, the Economic Democracy Union (EDU) and a coalition of civil groups, about 6,000 people began a demonstration in front of KMT party headquarters in Taipei on Wednesday, organizers said. For the third day, the organizers asked people to assemble
Taipei is participating in Osaka’s Festival of Lights this year, with a 3m-tall bubble tea light installation symbolizing Taiwan’s bubble tea culture. The installation is designed as a bubble tea cup and features illustrations of Taipei’s iconic landmarks, such as Taipei 101, the Red House and North Gate, as well as soup dumplings and the matchmaking deity the Old Man Under the Moon (月下老人), affectionately known as Yue Lao (月老). Taipei and Osaka have collaborated closely on tourism and culture since Taipei first participated in the festival in 2018, the Taipei City Department of Information and Tourism said. In February, Osaka represented
POOR IMPLEMENTATION: Teachers welcomed the suspension, saying that the scheme disrupted school schedules, quality of learning and the milk market A policy to offer free milk to all school-age children nationwide is to be suspended next year due to multiple problems arising from implementation of the policy, the Executive Yuan announced yesterday. The policy was designed to increase the calcium intake of school-age children in Taiwan by drinking milk, as more than 80 percent drink less than 240ml per day. The recommended amount is 480ml. It was also implemented to help Taiwanese dairy farmers counter competition from fresh milk produced in New Zealand, which is to be imported to Taiwan tariff-free next year when the Agreement Between New Zealand and
Taiwanese professional baseball should update sports stadiums and boost engagement to enhance fans’ experience, Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) in an interview on Friday. The league has urged Farglory Group and the Taipei City Government to improve the Taipei Dome’s outdated equipment, including relatively rudimentary television and sound systems, and poor technology, he said. The Tokyo Dome has markedly better television and sound systems, despite being 30 years old, because its managers continually upgraded its equipment, Tsai said. In contrast, the Taipei Dome lacked even a room for referees
RSS