The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday thanked French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Stéphane Séjourné for reiterating French opposition to any unilateral change in the cross-strait “status quo,” in response to Beijing’s changing of flight routes near Taiwan.
Séjourné made the comment to the French Senate on Wednesday in response to China allowing flights to operate on its self-drawn M503 flight route in the Taiwan Strait.
France opposes the use of force or coercion to change the cross-strait “status quo,” he said.
Photo: AP
France attaches great importance to freedom of navigation and overflight in the Taiwan Strait, he said, adding that it also supports Taiwan’s participation in international organizations.
The ministry in a statement thanked Séjourné for his comments, noting that he is the first European foreign minister to speak out against the flight route change.
France has always been concerned about developments in the Indo-Pacific region and Taiwan Strait, it said.
In addition to reiterating the importance of cross-strait peace and stability in high-level talks with the US, Australia, Japan and other partners, France has also sent warships through the Taiwan Strait multiple times in recent years, it said.
Taiwan was also mentioned for the first time in the seven-year military programming law promulgated by French President Emmanuel Macron in August last year, making France the first major country to write the importance of freedom of navigation in the Taiwan Strait into law, it added.
Taiwan and France share the universal values of democracy, freedom, human rights and the rule of law, the ministry said, adding that Taiwan would continue to work with France to defend its democracy and deepen cooperation.
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “(we) appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry
RSS