The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday thanked France and Australia for voicing their support for Taiwan, saying that peace across the Taiwan Strait is crucial to the stability and prosperity of international society.
France and Australia on Monday pledged to deepen ties with Taiwan and reiterated their support for its participation in international organizations at this year’s Foreign and Defense Ministerial Consultations in Paris.
The meeting between French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna, French Minister of the Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu, Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong (黃英賢) and Australian Minister for Defence Richard Marles was the second held after a similar meeting in Australia in 2021.
Photo: AFP
In a 46-point joint statement, Taiwan and the situation in the Taiwan Strait were one of the issues highlighted.
The participants “underscored the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and called for the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues through dialogue without the threat or use of force or coercion,” the statement said.
They also “reaffirmed their shared opposition to unilateral changes to the status quo in the Strait,” it said.
The opposition to the use of coercive measures and “unilaterally changing” the “status quo” was a new element in this year’s statement.
The two nations also committed to working together to support Taiwan’s meaningful participation in “the work of international organizations where statehood is not a prerequisite.”
This differed from the 2021 joint statement, in which the participants “expressed support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations, in accordance with the organizations’ statutes, to strengthen global cooperation on relevant issues.”
Also new in this year’s statement was that the participants “reiterated their will to continue deepening relations with Taiwan in the economic, scientific, trade, technological and cultural fields.”
In Taipei, the foreign ministry yesterday welcomed the statement, saying that France has consistently demonstrated its pro-Taiwan position, including in last year’s National Strategic Review, an updated Indo-Pacific strategy and the Japan-France Foreign and Defense Ministers’ Meeting.
The statement showed firm support for Taiwan from the two nations and underlined that the Taiwan Strait is crucial for maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region, the ministry said.
Taiwan would continue to deepen its relations with like-minded partners to fulfill shared goals and visions, it said.
Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has died of pneumonia at the age of 48 while on a trip to Japan, where she contracted influenza during the Lunar New Year holiday, her sister confirmed today through an agent. "Our whole family came to Japan for a trip, and my dearest and most kindhearted sister Barbie Hsu died of influenza-induced pneumonia and unfortunately left us," Hsu's sister and talk show hostess Dee Hsu (徐熙娣) said. "I was grateful to be her sister in this life and that we got to care for and spend time with each other. I will always be grateful to
UNITED: The premier said Trump’s tariff comments provided a great opportunity for the private and public sectors to come together to maintain the nation’s chip advantage The government is considering ways to assist the nation’s semiconductor industry or hosting collaborative projects with the private sector after US President Donald Trump threatened to impose a 100 percent tariff on chips exported to the US, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. Trump on Monday told Republican members of the US Congress about plans to impose sweeping tariffs on semiconductors, steel, aluminum, copper and pharmaceuticals “in the very near future.” “It’s time for the United States to return to the system that made us richer and more powerful than ever before,” Trump said at the Republican Issues Conference in Miami, Florida. “They
REMINDER: Of the 6.78 million doses of flu vaccine Taiwan purchased for this flu season, about 200,000 are still available, an official said, following Big S’ death As news broke of the death of Taiwanese actress and singer Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛), also known as Big S (大S), from severe flu complications, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and doctors yesterday urged people at high risk to get vaccinated and be alert to signs of severe illness. Hsu’s family yesterday confirmed that the actress died on a family holiday in Japan due to pneumonia during the Lunar New Year holiday. CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) told an impromptu news conference that hospital visits for flu-like illnesses from Jan. 19 to Jan. 25 reached 162,352 — the highest
TAIWAN DEFENSE: The initiative would involve integrating various systems in a fast-paced manner through the use of common software to obstruct a Chinese invasion The first tranche of the US Navy’s “Replicator” initiative aimed at obstructing a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would be ready by August, a US Naval Institute (USNI) News report on Tuesday said. The initiative is part of a larger defense strategy for Taiwan, and would involve launching thousands of uncrewed submarines, surface vessels and aerial vehicles around Taiwan to buy the nation and its partners time to assemble a response. The plan was first made public by the Washington Post in June last year, when it cited comments by US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue
RSS