China’s suppressing Taiwan’s international space: European Parliament

China’s suppressing Taiwan’s international space: European Parliament

2024-10-25

Friday marks the 53rd anniversary of the passage of UN Resolution 2758, which states the world body would recognize the PRC as the only legitimate representative of China. On Thursday, the European Parliament overwhelmingly voted on a resolution in support of Taiwan, saying that the UN resolution in question had no bearing on Taiwan’s participation in the UN and that China was trying to “distort history and international law” to suppress Taiwan. The resolution also condemned China’s military provocations of Taiwan. President Lai Ching-te in response has tweeted his thanks on X.

Javi López Fernández
EP plenary chair
On the People’s Republic of China’s misinterpretation of the United Nations Resolution 2758 and its continued military provocations around Taiwan.

The latest session of the European Parliament passed a resolution supporting Taiwan with an overwhelming majority of 432 votes in favor and only 60 votes against. The resolution strongly rejects China’s attempts to distort UN Resolution 2758 so that Taiwan is forcibly “represented” by Beijing. It also calls on EU member states to support Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations, such as the WHO, and condemns China’s continued military provocations against Taiwan. It is the clearest stance the EU has taken on the historic UN resolution so far.

Miriam Lexmann
MEP
The resolution is an important step in communicating clearly that we will not tolerate the distortion of international law.

The European Parliament resolution puts forward 21 propositions supporting Taiwan. It reiterates that Taiwan is a key partner of the EU, and requires the EU and its member states to further cultivate exchanges with Taiwan in various fields. It also welcomes Taiwan’s former and current politicians to visit Europe and requires the European Commission to arrange for various agreements with Taiwan, such as a bilateral investment pact.

François Wu
Deputy foreign minister
This shows that Taiwan’s current relationship with Europe has really improved significantly. They now care very much about the security of the Indo-Pacific region.

In recent years, international support for Taiwan has increased significantly. The US House of Representatives, Australian Senate and Dutch House of Representatives have all successively passed motions stating that UN Resolution 2758 has no bearing on Taiwan. Now the European Parliament has joined their ranks, and has given Taiwan’s global visibility a boost.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
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歐洲議會挺台反中國曲解2758號決議打壓台灣

2024-10-25

今天是聯合國2758號決議的53周年，而歐洲議會昨天(24)以壓倒性票數通過最新挺台決議，意義非凡。決議內容，一方面反對中國濫用聯合國2758號決議，另一方面也支持台灣的國際參與，同時也譴責中國在台灣周邊進行軍事威嚇。

[[會議主持人]]
“表決中華人民共和國扭曲聯合國第2758號決議，以及在台灣周邊持續不斷的軍事挑釁。”

新一屆歐洲議會，以432票贊成、60票反對的壓倒性多數，通過挺台決議。強烈駁斥中國扭曲聯合國大會第2758號決議，強行要台灣"被代表"，也要求歐盟成員應支持台灣有意義參與WHO等國際組織，同時譴責中國持續對台的軍事挑釁，可以說是歐洲議會至今對於2758號決議的最明確表態。

[[斯洛伐克籍議員萊克斯曼]]
“這項決議是明確表態的重要一步，我們不會容忍有人扭曲國際法。”

決議文提出21項主張，重申台灣是歐盟關鍵夥伴，並要求歐盟及成員國深化與台灣各領域交流、歡迎台灣卸任及現任政治人物拜訪歐洲，也要歐盟執委會與台灣接洽雙邊投資等各項協定。

近年來，國際挺台力道大增，美國眾議院、澳洲、荷蘭國會，都陸續通過「2758號決議不涉台」的動議，如今歐洲議會也加入行列，對於台灣在國際舞台上的能見度，再打一劑強心針。

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民視台灣台（152頻道）週日至週五晚上9:30
民視新聞台（53頻道）週二至週六凌晨1:00

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Halloween is right around the corner. Many hotels across Taiwan are offering Halloween themed desserts and events. FTV reporter Stephany Yang takes us in for a look!

This cake was inspired by a Halloween storybook. It is made of chocolate sponge cake, walnut buttercream frosting, and premium chocolate. The chocolate mousse is stacked in layers. The outer layer is covered with an orange cover made of fondant and chocolate, and then decorated with bat, spider-web and ghost-shaped chocolate chips. It was designed by the executive chef of this hotel, Delcourt Laurent.

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Other Halloween-themed desserts on offer are a pumpkin patch cake, Frankenstein cake, and skull-shaped bread. Laurent said the production process was quite laborious, especially for the Frankenstein cake.

Delcourt Laurent
Hotel executive chef
For the Frankenstein, it has many steps actually. You do the cake, and then after you have to give the shape for the eyes, and you have to give the shape for the hair. Inside is tiramisu with chestnut flavor. Outside is a kind of chocolate. They are mixed with a bit of cocoa butter to make it a bit more sweet. After, the finishing decoration is the chocolate paste for the hair.

A hotel in Taichung is offering a fairy tale castle-themed room and parade.

Lai Ying-liang
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The most popular ones are probably the princess and prince costumes because our main priority is a fairy tale castle-themed room.

Regent Hotel Taipei is offering Halloween-themed desserts such as Halloween storybooks, pumpkin patches, and skull-shaped bread. Hotel Metropolitan Premier Taipei is offering a special Halloween-themed afternoon tea set for two, offering witch’s finger cookies, ghost macarons, and more. The Lotus Park Leisure Agricultural Area is holding a pumpkin festival, which will feature a haunted house. Nearby farms are also decorated and there will be workshops on how to make pumpkin-shaped veggie buns. Get ready for a spooky feast this Halloween season!

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Sun to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
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Court rules against opposition moves to give legislature investigative power

The constitutional court on Friday came out with a long anticipated ruling on the constitutionality of granting the legislature sweeping investigative powers. This has been backed by opposition lawmakers, who have used their legislative majority to ram the measures through parliament. However, the court struck down nearly all of them on the grounds they were unconstitutional. This included allowing the legislature to impose penalties on people who give false testimony or refuse to hand over information or attend hearings. A requirement for the president to give a state-of-the-nation address on the legislative floor and take questions from lawmakers was also struck down. Let’s hear what ruling party and opposition politicians had to say.

Huang Kuo-chang
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Lin Szu-ming
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For the part that involves investigative powers, so many items were ruled unconstitutional today. TSMC no longer needs to be worried and ordinary people no longer need to be afraid.

The constitutional court ruled that special investigative task forces in the legislature, as the opposition parties had pushed for, were unconstitutional. They were also not allowed to assert investigative powers for cases that were already in litigation. In addition, legislators were not allowed to directly investigate cases that were already being investigated by other government agencies. In addition, a requirement that ordinary people or NGOs provide the legislature with information or get slapped with a fine of up to NT$100,000 is unconstitutional.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Sun to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
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Taiwan-France relations warm amid Chinese diplomatic pressure

Taiwan-France relations have taken a significant step forward, says Deputy Foreign Minister François Wu. Wu was speaking on the sidelines of a “European Week” promotion from a retailer in New Taipei, where he had been invited as a guest. Symbolizing the new closeness was former President Tsai Ing-wen’s recent visit to France. In the past, Taiwanese considered it difficult for former Taiwanese leaders to visit European countries owing to Chinese diplomatic pressure. Wu said it was particularly meaningful that the French government gave Tsai’s tour the green light.

A European Week promotion has begun at a retailer in New Taipei. The invited guests included the French de facto Ambassador Franck Paris and Deputy Foreign Minister François Wu, who previously had served as Taiwan’s de facto ambassador in France.

François Wu
Deputy foreign minister
I had been an ambassador in France for more than six years. Over these past six years, relations between Taiwan, France and Europe have improved significantly. Of course, we made a lot of European friends.

In addition to making friends through wine and food businesses, exchanges between Taiwan and France have also expanded from business and economics to culture and technology.

Franck Paris
French Office in Taipei director
We have already very important connections regarding culture. We are moving more and more towards more scientific cooperation between France and Taiwan. And also lately more economic connections

Warming relations between Taiwan and France are not just empty talk. The second stop of former President Tsai Ing-wen’s tour of Europe was France.

Tsai visited the Louvre Museum and the French Senate. Her groundbreaking visit proved that bilateral relations had reached a new milestone. François Wu, who helped to organize the visit behind the scenes, said he had been preparing for this moment for a long time.

François Wu
Deputy foreign minister
You need to understand that this was not an easy matter. As this year was the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between France and China, Xi Jinping had just been in France this year, so for France to make this kind of political decision shows that France is now very much looking forward to developing all kinds of relationships with Taiwan.

Even if China exerts more pressure, the trend for France to support Taiwan is likely to continue, showing that more and more democracies are willing to stand with Taiwan.

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Doug Publicover
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Prevent some of the illegal ship-to-ship transfers which bring petroleum products into North Korea.

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Bill Gallo
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Doing that relies on these flights, which gather information that governments can then use to impose more sanctions. How well it can work without help from China and Russia is another question. But for now, the US and its allies are trying to uphold these UN sanctions alone.

Bill Gallo. VOA News. Over the East China Sea.

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Famous marathon winner Lu Ruei-shan has run over 40 marathons. But after a table tennis game in April, he had a stroke.

Lu Ruei-shan
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That day, I had been exercising, and after I got back, I said to my wife that my head hurt. And then I lost consciousness. When I woke up, I was on a bed in the hospital. My wife said I’d had a stroke. I said, “How can that be? My stamina is great! I used to be one of the top three marathon runners in Taiwan!”

At 68, Lu is known as “The Father of Marathon-running.” His personal best clocks in at under 2.5 hours. He founded the Chinese Taipei Road Running Association, which has held more than 600 marathons. But after the stroke, he lost control of his mouth and throat, and was unable to speak; he couldn’t even use the toilet without assistance.

Lu Ruei-shan
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I couldn’t move my left arm or leg. I had to support my left side with my right arm and leg.

Tu Ya-wen
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We use tracheostomy tubes, nasogastric tubes and urinary catheters. Our team works hard to come up with training methods. For patients, being able to eat nice food is often an excellent motivator! So we often use that as an incentive.

Doctors emphasize that a stroke does not mean you’ll never walk again. Through the step-by-step progress of regular rehabilitation, Lu managed to put away the tubes and rediscover his marathon-winning willpower. Four months after the stroke, he was able to walk without assistance and was discharged from the hospital.

Lu Ruei-shan
Marathon runner
I will organise marathons again, for the country.

Doctors note that about 30,000 people have a stroke in Taiwan every year. But with dedicated rehab treatment, patients can recover agency and mobility after a stroke, just like “the Father of Marathon-running.”

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