Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday expressed appreciation for the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) following its statement condemning China’s recent military exercises near Taiwan.
IPAC in a statement on Friday evening, said it “strongly condemns Beijing’s recent military exercises around Taiwan.”
“The actions of the [Chinese] People’s Liberation Army [PLA] Eastern Theater Command are escalatory, provocative, and unjustified,” it said.
The alliance also denounced the PLA’s “aggressive and dehumanizing rhetoric,” which included referring to President William Lai (賴清德) and others as “parasites” and “threatening them with deplorable violence.”
“For too long Beijing’s calculated escalations around Taiwan have passed unremarked,” it said. “We cannot stand idly by as the Status Quo is eroded, with attendant consequences for the people of Taiwan and global stability,” it added.
The security of Taiwan and the stability and prosperity of the global economy are closely intertwined, the statement said, urging governments to publicly denounce the PLA’s actions and inflammatory rhetoric.
“We reiterate our appeal for an internationally agreed package of coordinated economic and political measures, including meaningful sanctions, and appropriate military and defense cooperation, to deter further escalation,” the alliance said.
The statement was signed by 43 lawmakers from 25 countries, as well as members of the European Parliament, underscoring the growing international consensus on the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The IPAC statement demonstrates that maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is a consensus of great importance to the international community, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs added.
Lin expressed appreciation to like-minded allies for voicing support for Taiwan, and called on democratic nations to stand together in the face of China’s military threats, the ministry said.
The ministry reiterated that peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait are indispensable for global peace and prosperity, adding that Taiwan would continue working with international partners to uphold a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
Following China’s military exercises around Taiwan on Tuesday and Wednesday last week, several countries and international organizations expressed concern or condemned Beijing’s provocative actions.
The ministry expressed its sincere gratitude to the US, the EU, the UK, Japan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea for speaking out on the issue.
Source: Taipei Times
