MOFA welcomes IPAC’s annual summit in Taipei

2024/07/30

The fourth annual meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China in Taipei City is welcomed by the government and people of Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said July 28.
 
Scheduled to be held July 30, the event themed cross-strait peace and stability will be attended by 49 parliamentarians and political figures from 24 legislative bodies around the world. High-profile participants include Australian Senator Deborah O’Neill; Eva Decroix, member of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic; and Olivier Cadic, vice president of the French Senate’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and Armed Forces.
 
According to the MOFA, President Lai Ching-te will deliver an address at the meeting while Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim will also make remarks at the event’s international news conference. Following the summit, IPAC members are scheduled to meet with Hsiao, attend a banquet hosted by Deputy Foreign Minister Tien Chung-kwang, and meet with legislators and visit high-tech companies to get a deeper understanding of the cross-strait situation, Taiwan’s political and economic development, and the country’s role in global supply chains, the ministry said.
 
The MOFA additionally condemned China’s interference in the IPAC summit and expressed appreciation for the alliance’s staunch support of democratic Taiwan. The statement followed an IPAC release denouncing Beijing for intimidating and dissuading members from traveling to the Taipei summit. Democratically elected lawmakers are free to visit and support causes of their choosing, the IPAC said, adding that China’s actions are yet another example of their brazen efforts to curtail other nations’ democratic privileges and negate Taiwan’s right to engage in legitimate diplomatic exchanges.
 
Established in June 2020 and comprising more than 250 lawmakers in 34 countries and the European Parliament, IPAC focuses on the challenges China poses to democracies and promotes legislation in countries worldwide to maintain the rules-based order.


Source: Taiwan Today (https://taiwantoday.tw/index.php)