Leaders of the G7 in an online meeting on Wednesday underlined the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
G7 leaders, along with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, met online to address global challenges, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Hamas’ attack on Israel, as well as issues such as economic resilience, food security and health.
“We reaffirm the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as indispensable to security and prosperity in the international community,” the body said in a statement.
Photo: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service handout via Reuters
The leaders called for “a peaceful resolution” to cross-strait issues, adding that “there is no change in the basic positions of the G7 members on Taiwan, including stated one China policies.”
Regarding the Indo-Pacific region, they voiced serious concerns about the situation in the East and South China seas, underlining that they “strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion.”
They also reiterated the commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific that is “inclusive, prosperous, secure and based on the rule of law, and that protects shared principles.”
While being open to building “constructive and stable relations with China,” G7 countries urged Beijing to play by international rules, adding that they are to work toward derisking and diversifying to build resilient economies.
The leaders also called on Beijing to honor its obligations under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations to refrain from engaging in “interference activities aimed at undermining the security and safety of our communities, the integrity of our democratic institutions and our economic prosperity,” the statement said.
China’s expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea have “no legal basis,” they said, adding that they are opposed to its “militarization activities” in the region.
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement yesterday thanked the G7 countries for their continued concern about the situation in the Taiwan Strait.
Major countries have repeatedly stressed the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, including at the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, in May and the summit between the leaders of Japan, South Korea and the US at Camp David in Maryland in August, the ministry said, adding that the issue has become a consensus in international society.
In other news, Taiwan is to donate US$2 million to the Western Central Pacific Fisheries Commission over five years starting next year to assist in the development of small island nations, the ministry said.
Taiwan made the announcement at the commission’s annual meeting, which began in the Cook Islands on Monday and concludes today, Department of International Organizations Deputy Director-General Lee Kuan-te (李冠德) told a regular news briefing.
The donation is to follow a five-year project from 2017, in which Taiwan donated US$2 million to the commission to establish a trust fund to assist members of the Small Island Developing States, including Taiwan’s diplomatic allies in the Pacific, to build fishery capabilities, Lee said.
Taiwan aims to open 18 representative offices and seven Taiwan Tourism Information Centers worldwide by next year to attract international visitors, the Tourism Administration said on Saturday. The agency has so far opened three representative offices abroad this year and would open two more before the end of the year, it said. It has also already opened information centers in Jakarta, Mumbai and Paris, and is to open one in Vancouver next month and in Manila in December, it said. Next year, it would also open offices in Amsterdam, Dubai and Sydney, it added. While the Cabinet did not mention international tourists in its
EYES AT SEA: Many marine enthusiasts have expressed interest in volunteering for coastal patrols, which would help identify stowaways and illegal fishing, the CGA said Six thousand coastal patrol volunteers are to be recruited for 159 inspection offices to enhance the nation’s response to “gray zone” conflicts, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) sources said yesterday. Volunteer teams would be established to increase the resilience of coastal defense systems in the wake of two unlawful entries attempted by Chinese over the past three months, Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. A former Chinese navy captain drove a motorboat into the Tamsui River (淡水河) in Taipei on the eve of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, while another Chinese man sailed in a rubber boat into the Houkeng
NEXT LEVEL: The defense ministry confirmed that a video released last month featured personnel piloting new FPV drone systems being developed by the Armaments Bureau Taipei and Washington are pushing for their drone companies to work together to establish a China-free supply chain, the Financial Times reported on Friday. A delegation of high-level executives and US government officials were yesterday to arrive in Taipei to discuss with their Taiwanese counterparts collaboration on drone technology procurement and development, the report said. The executives represent 26 US manufacturers of drone and counter-drone systems, while the officials are from the US Department of Commerce and the US Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit, along with Dev Shenoy, principal director for microelectronics in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense
‘ANONYMOUS 64’: A national security official said that it is an attempt by China to increase domestic anti-Taiwanese sentiment and inflame cross-strait tensions The Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM) yesterday denied accusations by China that it had undermined regional security by carrying out cyberattacks against targets in China, adding instead that Beijing was responsible for raising tensions and undermining regional peace. The Chinese Ministry of State Security on WeChat accused a hacker group called “Anonymous 64” of targeting China, Hong Kong and Macau starting earlier this year through frequent cyberattacks. The group carried out cyberattacks to seize control of Web sites, outdoor electronic billboards and video-on-demand platforms in China, Hong Kong and Macau, it said, adding the hackers’