British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stated their support for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait in a memorandum of understanding signed on Thursday.
“We reaffirm the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and encourage the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues without the threat or use of force or coercion,” the two leaders said in the agreement signed during their meeting at the British prime minister’s official residence at 10 Downing Street in London.
“We reaffirm our shared opposition to unilateral changes to the status quo,” they said. “We will coordinate to uphold the rules-based international order, particularly on our concerns regarding the challenges posed by state actors.”
Photo: AFP
They also voiced concerns about China’s human rights violations and abuses in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong, calling on Beijing to act responsibly as a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday welcomed the statement, saying that the UK and Italy have repeatedly supported peaceful measures in the Taiwan Strait.
This can be seen in the British policy report Review Refresh 2023, as well as a speech British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs James Cleverly made on Tuesday, the ministry said.
Photo: AFP, via the Taiwan Presidential Office
Cleverly said that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would destroy world trade, and “no country could shield itself from the repercussions of a war in Taiwan.”
Italy recently sending a naval patrol vessel to the Indo-Pacific region also showed the country’s efforts to help ensure regional stability, it added.
Separately yesterday, French Senate Vice President Alain Richard said in Taipei that the French Parliament is highly concerned about security in the Taiwan Strait and supports the French government’s actions to safeguard the Indo-Pacific region.
The French Parliament backs the government’s efforts to bolster cooperative relations with other countries, including Taiwan, he said at a meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) at the Presidential Office.
Amid rising global tensions, the French Parliament is also focusing on bolstering mutual trust and cooperation in the field of security, he said.
French lawmakers are greatly concerned about Taiwan’s security and always encourage their government to show its support, he said.
The transit of a French military ship through the Taiwan Strait earlier this month was an example Richard cited of his country’s engagement in the region.
Richard and his delegation, which comprises members and staff of the France-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group, concluded their five-day visit to Taiwan yesterday.
The visit is being made to demonstrate France’s friendship with Taiwan and show its respect for the Taiwanese government, Richard said.
The progress Taiwanese have made in promoting human rights and democracy is laudable, Richard added.
France and Taiwan have been working closely together on various projects for years, which has drawn the attention of more French citizens to Taiwan, he said.
Tsai thanked Richard for helping deepen ties between the two nations.
The World Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce meeting that took place in Paris earlier this month showed the close cooperation between Taiwan and France in economy and trade, she said.
A joint statement issued after the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, which was held in Japan from April 16 to Tuesday last week, also highlighted the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and its support for Taiwan’s international participation, she said.
Taiwan will continue to improve its relations with France to achieve more fruitful results in several fields, she said.
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
GEOPOLITICAL CONCERNS: Foreign companies such as Nissan, Volkswagen and Konica Minolta have pulled back their operations in China this year Foreign companies pulled more money from China last quarter, a sign that some investors are still pessimistic even as Beijing rolls out stimulus measures aimed at stabilizing growth. China’s direct investment liabilities in its balance of payments dropped US$8.1 billion in the third quarter, data released by the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed on Friday. The gauge, which measures foreign direct investment (FDI) in China, was down almost US$13 billion for the first nine months of the year. Foreign investment into China has slumped in the past three years after hitting a record in 2021, a casualty of geopolitical tensions,
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