Lawmakers from all political parties should support a proposed motion that would clarify UN Resolution 2758, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators told a news conference yesterday, but opposition party members later walked out of a cross-party meeting when the topic was raised.
DPP legislators Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩), Michelle Lin (林楚茵), Su Chiao-hui (蘇巧慧) and Puma Shen (沈伯洋) said that the news conference was held to “oppose China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 and call on all political parties to speak up for Taiwan.”
UN Resolution 2758 does not have anything to do with Taiwan’s sovereignty and international status, and Taiwan rejects China’s attempts to distort the truth, they said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
The US House of Representatives in July last year passed the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which affirms that UN Resolution 2758 does not refer to Taiwan, a sentiment echoed in July by the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China’s own resolution.
More recently, the Australian Senate and the Dutch House of Representatives also passed motions clarifying the definition of UN Resolution 2758.
Now is the time for Taiwan to unite and make its voice heard by the international community, Chiu said.
UN Resolution 2758 should no longer block Taiwan from international participation, she said.
The motions in Australia and the Netherlands reflect Taiwan’s growing support abroad, Su said.
UN Resolution 2758 directly affects issues such as encroachment of Chinese fishing vessels into Taiwan’s waters and the M503 flight route, Su said.
Clarifying Taiwan’s international status would allow for it to join international organizations, she said.
The international movement to clarify Resolution 2758, as well as the recent transit of a German ship through the Taiwan Strait, show that Taiwan is important to the world, Lin said.
Now is the time for solidarity, Lin said, adding that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) should give up their alignment with Beijing’s position and give Taiwan back to Taiwanese.
The lack of clarity regarding Resolution 2758 lies at the heart of an international legal battle between China and the world, Shen said.
As China continues to expand its jurisdiction, Taiwan must know how to respond to the country’s legal challenges.
After the news conference, Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) convened talks on the new legislative session.
During the meeting, the DPP caucus proposed a joint statement from all parties, but Han and other KMT legislators, as well as those from the TPP, walked out of the meeting.
“I had to fight back tears; this is the reality of Taiwan’s situation,” DPP caucus secretary-general Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said, describing the feeling of reading the proposed statement to a room without opposition lawmakers in attendance.
The KMT and the TPP are disregarding what is best for Taiwan, Wu said.
The DPP will appeal to the public to ensure that the international community hears the true voice of the people, she said.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —
Taiwan on Friday said a New Zealand hamburger restaurant has apologized for a racist remark to a Taiwanese customer after reports that it had first apologized to China sparked outrage in Taiwan. An image posted on Threads by a Taiwanese who ate at Fergburger in Queenstown showed that their receipt dated Sunday last week included the words “Ching Chang,” a racial slur. The Chinese Consulate-General in Christchurch in a statement on Thursday said it had received and accepted an apology from the restaurant over the incident. The comment triggered an online furor among Taiwanese who saw it as an insult to the