The Formosa Club has called for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and deeper cooperation between the EU and Taiwan.
The statement was issued after the group held its first Unity Summit in Brussels on Wednesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement yesterday.
“Cross-strait issues must be resolved by peaceful means, and the status quo should not be unilaterally altered against the will of Taiwanese,” the statement said.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs via CNA
The group opposes any reckless and aggressive behavior, which “unnecessarily escalate tensions in the region,” it added.
Taiwan, like other democracies, “has the right to develop comprehensive relations with other countries to advance the common interests of their peoples,” the ministry said.
The summit was attended, in person and virtually, by 27 cochairs and members of the European Parliament as well as lawmakers from 20 European parliaments and Canada, it said.
European Parliament-Taiwan Friendship Group chairman Michael Gahler, who presided over the summit, praised Taiwan’s contributions to global public health and its impressive achievements in preventing the COVID-19 pandemic, it said.
The group was launched in October 2019 by the chairs of Taiwan friendship groups in the European Parliament, and the parliaments of Germany, France and Britain, said Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Roy Lee (李淳), who was invited to the event.
Following its lead, similar groups were formed in Latin America, Africa, West Asia, the Indo-Pacific region and the Caribbean, forming a powerful cross-parliamentary platform in support of Taiwan, he said.
Lee thanked the group for sending a joint letter to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus for a fourth consecutive year to advocate for Taiwan’s participation in the World Health Assembly (WHA).
It has also condemned China’s military exercises around Taiwan through joint statements and letters, and has supported Lithuania’s move to deepen ties with Taiwan, he added.
In other news, the International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF) worked with Malteser International and Good Neighbors to hold a forum on the sidelines of the WHA to draw attention to mental health.
Government officials, industry representatives and academics from Belize, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Kitts and Nevis, the Kingdom of Eswatini and other countries joined the forum held on Monday in Geneva, Switzerland, ICDF Deputy Secretary-General Chen Ai-chen (陳愛貞) said yesterday.
Mental healthcare should never stop, said Minister of Health and Welfare Hsueh Jui-yuan (薛瑞元), who is leading an action group to advocate for Taiwan during the WHA.
He also shared the programs Taiwan launched during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide psychological support to the public and frontline medical personnel.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS