The first inaugural forum on Regional Security in the Indo-Pacific between Taiwan and Canada was held this week with Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) attending on Tuesday the opening ceremony in Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said today in a news release.
In recent years, expanding authoritarianism has threatened world peace, prosperity and international order, making it more important than ever for democratic countries to strengthen partnerships, Lin said in his speech.
Canada has recently dispatched a navy vessel through the Taiwan Strait, while foreign diplomats from the US, Japan and South Korea issued a joint statement to reaffirm their support for peace in the Taiwan Strait at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, he added.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs via CNA
As countries around the world focus on building resilient supply chains, the MOFA would implement President William Lai’s (賴清德) integrated diplomatic approach through “values-based diplomacy” to cement ties with countries that hold similar values, he said.
Held in Taipei from Tuesday until yesterday, “An International Conference on Regional Security in the Indo-Pacific: Dialogues among Canada, Taiwan and Regional Partners” was attended by academics and experts from Canada, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Singapore, MOFA said.
The forum was jointly hosted by the MOFA, the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei, National Taiwan University, the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada and the University of Calgary, it said.
The forum heard speeches from Lin, Canadian Trade Office in Taipei Executive Director Jim Nickel and National Taiwan University Vice President for Academic Affairs, Ding Shih-torng (丁詩同), it added.
Lin and Nickel expressed their hope that the forum would continue to be hosted in the future, as it was an important platform for Taiwanese and Canadian academics to exchange ideas and have discussions.
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