Lawmakers from Taiwan’s four political parties took part in the virtual 85th Council Meeting and 51st General Assembly of the Asian-Pacific Parliamentarians’ Union Oct. 13-14 in Taipei City, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Themed “Building Resilient and Sustainable Societies through Security, Peace and Prosperity,” this year’s events also involved allies the Marshall Islands and Nauru, as well as the Cook Islands, Kiribati, Japan, Thailand and the Philippines.
Led by Legislative Yuan President You Si-kun, the Taiwan delegation comprised Lin Ching-yi from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, Chen I-hsin from the Kuomintang, Chiu Chen-yuan from the Taiwan People’s Party and Wang Wan-yu from the New Power Party.
According to the MOFA, Lin highlighted Taiwan’s success in weathering the social and economic impact of COVID-19 through effective use of digital technology and government policies.
She also detailed how Taiwan continues to work with like-minded partners to help promote the U.N. Sustainable Goals via international collaboration initiatives such as the Global Cooperation and Training Framework.
During the discussion sessions, Chen reiterated Taiwan’s commitment to contributing more to the global health network. He also highlighted the success of Taiwan’s official development assistance programs and nongovernmental organizations in expanding global cooperation.
Chiu proposed a resolution urging fellow APPU member states to support Taiwan’s international participation. The proposal was unanimously approved and listed in the joint communique.
According to the MOFA, the delegations from Japan and the Marshall Islands took the opportunity to voice strong backing for Taiwan’s participation in the World Health Organization, International Civil Aviation Organization and U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change. The show of support is sincerely appreciated by the government and people, the ministry added.
Tokyo-headquartered APPU was established in 1965 as an exchange platform for the legislative bodies of its five founding members: Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines. A total of 21 member states participate in the regional initiative. (SFC-E)
Write to Taiwan Today at ttonline@mofa.gov.tw