A delegation of Ukrainian non-governmental organizations visiting Taiwan yesterday called for more support and cooperation from democracies, including Taiwan, in the face of challenges from authoritarian regimes.
“Democracies that are facing threats from authoritarian regimes should be supported” by “stakeholders on an international level,” Yevheniia Fedotova, vice president of the Liberal Democratic League of Ukraine, told a news conference in Taipei.
The organization, consisting mainly of young people, is dedicated to building and developing a liberal democracy in Ukraine.
Photo: CNA
Ukrainians still face an “existential threat,” Fedotova said, adding that an estimated 20,000 Ukrainian children have been kidnapped by Russian troops since the Kremlin’s invasion began in February 2022.
Countries sharing the same values of democracy and human rights should call on Russia to return those children to their families in Ukraine, she said.
The delegation arrived in Taiwan on Monday for a six-day visit. It has spoken with representatives from the Democratic Progressive Party and the Taiwan People’s Party about potential collaboration, as well as with more than a dozen civil society groups.
Other members of the delegation are Uliana Dzurliak, an architect involved in rebuilding projects in Ukraine, and Asami Terajima, a Ukrainian journalist with the Kyiv Independent English-language online newspaper.
Fedotova also appealed for direct assistance from Taiwan because Ukraine is still in need of humanitarian aid, such as water supply systems and medicine.
The two countries should “join forces in research and development projects,” she added.
At the same time, Ukraine would like to contribute to Taiwanese society in areas where it has expertise, said Dzurliak, who chairs the Right Room Foundation.
“We are ready to share our experience and best practices in the field of civil protection,” Dzurliak said.
“More than 90 percent of civil training centers [in Ukraine] are created by non-governmental organizations,” she said, adding that in strong democratic states “grassroots movements play a key role in the protection [and] resilience development” of countries.
Theaters and institutions in Taiwan have received 28 threatening e-mails, including bomb threats, since a documentary critical of China began being screened across the nation last month, the National Security Bureau said yesterday. The actions are part of China’s attempts to undermine Taiwan’s sovereignty, it said. State Organs (國有器官) documents allegations that Chinese government officials engage in organ harvesting and other illegal activities. From last month to Friday last week, 28 incidents have been reported of theaters or institutions receiving threats, including bomb and shooting threats, if they did not stop showing the documentary, the bureau said. Although the threats were not carried out,
‘GRAY ZONE’ TACTICS: China continues to build up its military capacity while regularly deploying jets and warships around Taiwan, with the latest balloon spotted on Sunday The US is drawing up contingency plans for military deployments in Japan and the Philippines in case of a Taiwan emergency, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported. They would be incorporated in a first joint operation plan to be formulated in December, Kyodo reported late on Sunday, citing sources familiar with Japan-US relations. A US Marine Corps regiment that possesses High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems — a light multiple rocket launcher — would be deployed along the Nansei Island chain stretching from Kyushu to Yonaguni near Taiwan, Kyodo said. According to US military guidelines for dispatching marines in small formations to several locations,
As Taiwan celebrated its baseball team’s victory in the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s Premier12 on Sunday, how politicians referred to the team in their congratulatory messages reflected the nation’s political divide. Taiwan, competing under the name Chinese Taipei (中華台北隊), made history with its first-ever Premier12 championship after beating Japan 4-0 at the Tokyo Dome. Right after the game, President William Lai (賴清德) congratulated the team via a post on his Facebook page. Besides the players, Lai also lauded the team’s coaching and medical staff, and the fans cheering for them in Tokyo or watching the live broadcast, saying that “every
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday confirmed that Chinese students visiting Taiwan at the invitation of the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation were almost all affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). During yesterday’s meeting convened by the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) asked whether the visit was a way to spread China’s so-called “united front” rhetoric, to which MAC Deputy Ministry Shen You-chung (沈有忠) responded with the CCP comment. The MAC noticed that the Chinese individuals visiting Taiwan, including those in sports, education, or religion, have had increasingly impressive backgrounds, demonstrating that the
RSS