The G7 should not shrink from making explicit plans to deter military action or other coercive measures Beijing might contemplate taking against Taiwan, the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) said in a statement on Monday.
The communique of the international consortium should “not shy away from the need for coordinated deterrence,” it said, adding that the group must make clear that “escalated aggression against Taiwan will cost Beijing dearly.”
Lawmakers from Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Japan, the Netherlands, Ukraine and the UK were among the IPAC members who signed the statement.
Photo: AFP
The G7 should reassert its “firm opposition to any unilateral change” to the “status quo” across the Taiwan Strait, emphasize Taiwan’s importance to the global economy and deter Beijing from belligerent actions, it said.
The international body should acknowledge that instability in the South China Sea would have a significantly negative effect on the world economy and ensure that efforts to de-risk the global supply chain take the situation in the region into account, it said.
The G7 was additionally called upon to reduce overdependency on China, increase supply chain and energy resilience, improve labor standards, counter cybersecurity threats, cybertheft and disinformation, and oppose “transnational repression” emanating from China, the group said.
“G7 countries [should] coordinate their efforts to investigate and expose China’s transnational repression, including by sharing information, coordinating sanctions, and supporting civil society groups and human rights defenders who are working to document and counter these abuses,” it said.
The G7 was called upon to “work with other like-minded partners to pressure China to end its transnational repression by raising these issues in multilateral fora,” IPAC said.
Beijing’s “no limits” friendship with Moscow amid Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine cast doubt on China’s commitment to “the foundational principles of the international rules-based system,” it said.
Chinese entities and individuals should be monitored for providing aid to Russian aggression and sanctions invoked if necessary, it added.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS