Awareness of the importance of Taiwan and support for the country have been growing in Canada, Canadian Senator Michael MacDonald said yesterday.
MacDonald, who is cochair of the Canada-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group, is leading a delegation to Taiwan and met with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
Although there has always been latent support for Taiwan in Canada, appreciation for how important it is to stand up for Taiwan’s freedom and for its right to exist has always been lacking, he said.
Photo: CNA
However, Canadians now see Taiwan as a great partner economically and socially, and hope to continue boosting ties, a change that is “gratifying to see,” he said.
“Taiwan is a country that should be emulated around the world,” he said, adding that all democracy-loving free people should salute Taiwan for its accomplishments.
Tsai thanked the lawmakers for participating in Double Ten National Day celebrations and continuing to speak out for the nation in the Canadian parliament.
Hopefully, Canada, as next year’s chair of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), would support Taiwan’s bid to join the bloc, Tsai said.
On Thursday night, the delegation attended a banquet hosted by Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), to whom MacDonald presented a copy of the Canada-Taiwan Relations Framework Act as a demonstration of the Canadian parliament’s firm support for Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a news release yesterday.
The bill aims to bolster security cooperation between Taiwan and Canada, as well as people-to-people ties in economic, cultural and legal affairs.
The bill supports Taiwan’s participation in international trade agreements, including the CPTPP.
It also supports Taiwan’s participation in international organizations and permits the office representing the nation in Canada to be referred to as the “Taiwan representative office” and the Trade Office of Canada in Taipei to be referred to as the “Canadian representative office in Taiwan.”
The first reading of the bill was completed in the Canadian House of Commons in June.
The visit to Taiwan provided the delegation with a deeper understanding of its political and economic development, MacDonald said, adding that he “was honored to witness in person that Taiwan has realized the values of democracy, freedom and human rights advocated by Canada.”
Separately, former US ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft acknowledged Taiwan’s contribution to the world and expressed confidence that Washington would continue to stand with Taiwan.
Craft and other guests at the Yushan Forum on Wednesday and Thursday met with Tsai at the Presidential Office yesterday.
Taiwan is “a model to the world of how to take care of its people” during the COVID-19 pandemic, demonstrating how innovative, ingenious and generous people can contribute to solving global problems, Craft said.
Under Tsai’s leadership, Taiwan displayed an unwavering commitment to maintaining the “status quo,” and pursuing peace and prosperity in the face of Chinese intimidation, she said.
Craft said that Americans would continue to support Taiwan as they support Ukraine and Israel, as “an attack on free people is an attack on all free people.”
Freedom is the most powerful force, and is what dictators and terrorists most fear, she said.
“Freedom will prevail and Taiwan will prevail,” she said.
Tsai thanked the guests for sharing their observations and insights on Taiwan issues.
Taiwan will deepen partnerships with like-minded countries to safeguard regional peace and stability, she said.
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
STILL COMMITTED: The US opposes any forced change to the ‘status quo’ in the Strait, but also does not seek conflict, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said US President Donald Trump’s administration released US$5.3 billion in previously frozen foreign aid, including US$870 million in security exemptions for programs in Taiwan, a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters showed. Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly after taking office on Jan. 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has said that all foreign assistance must align with Trump’s “America First” priorities, issued waivers late last month on military aid to Israel and Egypt, the
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
France’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and accompanying warships were in the Philippines yesterday after holding combat drills with Philippine forces in the disputed South China Sea in a show of firepower that would likely antagonize China. The Charles de Gaulle on Friday docked at Subic Bay, a former US naval base northwest of Manila, for a break after more than two months of deployment in the Indo-Pacific region. The French carrier engaged with security allies for contingency readiness and to promote regional security, including with Philippine forces, navy ships and fighter jets. They held anti-submarine warfare drills and aerial combat training on Friday in
RSS