Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) has been invited by the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, an international cross-party group of legislators, to its meeting in Rome on Friday next week, the alliance said on Monday.
“Representatives from the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) — a body of some 200 global parliamentarians — will gather in Rome to stage a counter-meeting ahead of the G20 Leaders Summit to demand a tougher stance towards the Chinese government,” the group said in a statement.
The conference “will see parliamentarians from five continents meet with prominent leaders of groups targeted by the Chinese government, including Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, Sikyong of the Central Tibetan Administration Penpa Tsering, former Hong Kong legislator Nathan Law [羅冠聰] and Uyghur artist and activist Rahima Mahmut,” it said.
Photo: screengrab from the Internet
The Rome conference would be the first time that IPAC holds an in-person meeting since its launch in June last year, it said.
“Earlier this year the Chinese government imposed travel bans and other sanctions on nine IPAC members, including former UK Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP, Belgian Green MP Samuel Cogolati, EPP MEP Miriam Lexmann and Lithuanian Social Democratic MP Dovile Sakaliene — all of whom will be present at the Rome conference,” it said.
In Taipei, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) told a news briefing that the ministry is deliberating details about Wu’s visit to Europe, without confirming whether he would attend the meeting in person.
The ministry would share more information with the public once a decision is confirmed, Ou said.
IPAC is composed of the parliaments of 19 countries, spanning five continents and includes the European Parliament, she added.
It aims to promote cooperation among like-minded parliaments to push China to respect international regulations, global security and human rights through legislation, she said.
The alliance has repeatedly expressed its concern over Beijing’s verbal and military coercion of Taiwan, and its infringements on democracy, human rights and freedom, she said.
It has also voiced support for Taiwan to join the WHO and for Lithuania to develop ties with Taiwan by posting videos on Twitter, Ou said.
Aside from the meeting in Rome, Wu might attend a meeting in Prague on Wednesday and Thursday next week, according to a resolution passed by the Czech Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and Security last week.
However, the foreign ministry has yet to confirm Wu’s visit to the Czech Republic, although it has said Wu did receive an invitation from the country.
Meanwhile, a delegation of more than 65 people led by National Development Council Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) and Minister of Science and Technology Wu Tsung-tsong (吳政忠) is to visit Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Lithuania from today until Saturday next week.
Asked about media reports that a delegation from the European Parliament plans to visit Taiwan for discussions about disinformation next month, Ou said the ministry has no information to offer at present, but Taiwan would continue to deepen relations with the EU and its member states through various means.
GEARING UP: An invasion would be difficult and would strain China’s forces, but it has conducted large-scale training supporting an invasion scenario, the report said China increased its military pressure on Taiwan last year and took other steps in preparation for a potential invasion, an annual report published by the US Department of Defense on Wednesday showed. “Throughout 2023, Beijing continued to erode longstanding norms in and around Taiwan by employing a range of pressure tactics against Taiwan,” the report said, which is titled “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China (PRC) 2024.” The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) “is preparing for a contingency to unify Taiwan with the PRC by force, if perceived as necessary by Beijing, while simultaneously deterring, delaying or denying
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
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
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
RSS