Lawmakers from Taiwan, the US and the EU meeting in Washington on Tuesday to kick off a new "Taiwan Transatlantic Dialogue"pledged to cooperate in fostering Taiwan's participation in the UN, the WHO and other organizations
The meeting, made possible by the Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA), a lobbying organization, sought to find areas of mutual concern regarding Taiwan's future on which the participants could press their governments to agree.
"The dialogue seeks to help ensure that a full expression of the opinions of the people of Taiwan is clearly heard and that an ongoing discussion of issues of mutual concern will work to the benefit of the national interests of the United States, Europe and Taiwan," said a joint statement issued after the three-hour inaugural session in a US House of Representatives office building.
ATTENDEES
Joining the discussion were Taiwan Solidarity Union Legislator George Liu (劉寬平) and Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Min-jen (陳明真), representative to Washington Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) and representative-designate to Ireland Parris Chang (張旭成).
Bastiaan Belder of the Netherlands and Graham Watson of the UK, both members of the European Parliament, also attended.
Seven members of the US Congressional Taiwan Caucus also joined the discussion, including two co-chairmen, representatives Steve Chabot and Dana Rohrabacher.
"Participants concluded that further cooperation in US and European trade with Taiwan and in the overall US-Taiwan economic relationship, including a possible free trade agreement, should be fostered. Joint efforts working toward Taiwan's participation in international organizations such as the UN and the WHO should be promoted, as well as joint efforts to promote democracy in Asia," the statement said.
"Participants also noted that the US and Europe's policy regarding cross-strait relations calls for a peaceful resolution of the dispute between the two sides, and, because Taiwan is a democracy, [call for] a resolution that has the full consent of the people of Taiwan," the statement said.
The statement also called on China to establish direct dialogue with the Taiwanese government as soon as possible.
Chabot told reporters after the meeting that the dialogue was "particularly timely as Taiwan continues to push for membership in the United Nations. The dialogue helps further Taiwan's strategy for entry. Support for membership will come not only with the help of the United States but also with the help of our European allies."
Belder called on the Europeans to help "put an end to the Chinese obsession with Taiwan."
The European governing bodies, including the European Parliament, the European Commission and the European Council, "should listen to their democratic principles and not help the Chinese authorities to negate" Taiwan and its population, which "especially in Asia is an example of democracy, of development, of shared values," he said.
CRITICISM
He criticized members of the European Parliament who "speak about shared values with regimes that have no shared values with us, and who speak of strategic partnerships with China and Russia, and to silence the rightful, legitimate case of Taiwan's place in the sun in the international community."
Turning to the UN, Belder said "it is up to the Taiwan people to have a referendum on membership in the United Nations."
He said that if the resolution passes next March, "then it is the obligation of the United States as the most responsible power in the region, and also of the members of the European Union, to give a strong signal that in this Olympics year of Beijing, not to escalate, not to intimidate again the Taiwanese authorities and people."
Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the ranking republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, described Taiwan as "a beacon of democracy shining its light directly across the Taiwan Strait and in [to] the very heart of Tiananmen Square."
Recalling the Tiananmen massacre of 1989 that prompted Europe to impose a ban on arms sales to China, Ros-Lehtinen said, "The recent, brutal crackdown in Burma reminds us once again that we should never turn our backs on martyrs for liberty."
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
‘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
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) yesterday appealed to the authorities to release former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) from pretrial detention amid conflicting reports about his health. The TPP at a news conference on Thursday said that Ko should be released to a hospital for treatment, adding that he has blood in his urine and had spells of pain and nausea followed by vomiting over the past three months. Hsieh Yen-yau (謝炎堯), a retired professor of internal medicine and Ko’s former teacher, said that Ko’s symptoms aligned with gallstones, kidney inflammation and potentially dangerous heart conditions. Ko, charged with