International Relations

Five human-rights-violating dictatorships elected to United Nations Human Rights Council while democratic nation Taiwan still denied UN membership

UNHSRC cracked glass
International Relations 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

The United States and Israel are among critics of the United Nations General Assembly’s decision to advance China, Russia, Cuba, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan to the United Nation’s top human rights body – the United Nation’s Human Rights Council (UNHCR), and Taiwan United Nations Alliance is also calling out the UN’s hypocrisy. “Today the UN General Assembly once again elected countries with abhorrent human rights records, including China, Russia, and Cuba. Venezuela was elected in 2019,” US Secretary of State Mike

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Global mayors group lists Taiwan cities as part of China

Taiwan cities listed as being in China
International Relations 
Phillip Charlier 1 Comment

The mayors of New Taipei City, Taichung City, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) have lodged protests after the international climate action group Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy listed Taiwan’s members as cities in China. The group listed six Taiwan municipalities as “China” on its website – Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan, and Kaohsiung. The New Taipei City government stated today, September 27, that it will never accept GCoM’ dwarfing Taiwan. An official statement

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Japan’s former Prime Minister Mori hints that new PM Suga may give Taiwan President a phone call

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, and former Prime Minister of Japan Yoshide Mori at the Presidential Office in Taipei 2020
International Relations 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

Former Prime Minister of Japan Yoshiro Mori told President Tsai Ing-wen today, that the newly-appointed Prime Minister of Japan, Yoshihide Suga, is looking forward to communicating by phone, if the opportunity arises. If the leaders of Japan and Taiwan were to have a telephone conversation, it would be a first since Japan severed diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1972. Yoshiro Mori arrived this afternoon, Friday, September 18, to attend a memorial service for the late former President Lee Teng-hui. After

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Highest level visit in 41 years: US Secretary of Health arrives in Taipei

US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar in Taipei, Taiwan
International Relations 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport shortly before 5:00 pm this afternoon, marking the most senior US cabinet official to visit Taiwan since Washington broke off diplomatic relations in 1979. Azar disembarked from a US Air Force C-40 shortly after landing at 4:48 pm, and was met by a delegation that included Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu and AIT Director William Brent Christensen . Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the parties

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“Taiwan Invasion Prevention Act” to be introduced to US Congress this week

Lou Dobbs and Ted Yoho on Fox Business
International Relations 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

A bill to authorize the President of the United States to use force if China attempts a military invasion of Taiwan will be introduced to the US House of Representatives this week, according to comments made by Republican Congressman Ted Yoho (R-FL) Friday night. Yoho, chairman of the house Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, made the comments while speaking to Fox Business’ Lou Dobbs, July 17. “With South Korea and Japan and the United States, we’re doing

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Taiwan Defense Act introduced to US House of Reps: “end strategic ambiguity and draw a clear red line”, Rep says

US congress
International Relations 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

A bill aimed at ensuring the USA can meet its obligations under the Taiwan Relations Act in the face of the “Chinese Communist Party’s aggressive military build-up” was introduced to the House of Representatives, June 1. The bill is the identical to the Taiwan Defense Act introduced to the Senate last month. Introduced by Representative Mike Gallagher, the bill is designed to ensure the Department of Defense maintains the ability to defeat a Chinese invasion against Taiwan. “Yesterday, we saw

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Former US defense official: US military flight a strong signal Taiwan not territory of China

US Air Force C-40 over Taiwan
International Relations 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

Joseph Bosco, former China country desk official in the office of the Secretary of Defense, said that a US military plane’s flight over Taiwan June 9 was a strong signal that the US does not consider Taiwan part of China’s territory. Voice of America Chinese reports the comments in an interview with Bosco, after US Defense Secretary Mark Esper reaffirmed America’s commitment to a democratic Taiwan in a series of tweets, Tuesday morning, June 16. Bosco, a senior associate at

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Prague thanks Taiwan for medical supplies: “Taiwan’s success inspiring”

Mayor of Prague
International Relations 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

The Mayor of Prague, Zdeněk Hřib thanked Taiwan for donating ventilators, saying that they will be used to save lives. Czech Parliament Senator Jiří Drahoš  joined Hřib in a video to thank the people of Taiwan. “Dear people of Taiwan,” Mayor Hřib, a qualified physician, said; “your success in your fight with coronavirus has been very inspiring for us here in Prague.” “I hope this situation will be over soon so that we can cooperate more in the future.” The message

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WHO senior doctor pretends not to hear question about Taiwan, ends video call with Hong Kong reporter

Bruce Aylward of the WHO
International Relations 
Phillip Charlier 11 Comments , , ,

Assistant director-general of the World Health Organization Bruce Aylward appeared to go deaf, or to have experienced technical difficulties when a Hong Kong reporter asked him a question about Taiwan, then rudely hung up when the reporter repeated the question. During an interview for RTHK’s weekly current affairs show, The Pulse, Yvonne Tong asked Aylward: “Will the WHO reconsider Taiwan’s membership?” Aylward’s eyes and mouth twitched with a slightly pained expression, then followed a long, awkward silence with Aylward staring

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United Nations Women excludes Taiwan in survey of women’s participation in politics

corrected map
International Relations 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

Taiwan’s Presidential Office slammed the United Nation’s agency representing the empowerment of women – UN Women, after the international body lumped Taiwan in with China in a survey released recently on women’s participation in politics. UN Women didn’t even count Taiwan among nations with a woman as head of state, claiming that only 20 countries had a woman as head of state. The Presidential Office corrected this on a graphic tweeted by the spokesperson yesterday, March 13. As can be

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ICAO misrepresents Taiwan as “province of China” in press release on economic impact of coronavirus

International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) headquarters, Montreal, Canada
International Relations 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , , , ,

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) referred to Taiwan as a province of China in a press release forecasting the economic impact of the Wuhan coronavirus on international airlines, February 13. Using the World Health Organization’s (WHO) freshly-designated name COVID-19, which was coined to avoid reference to the original source of the epidemic in a capital city of a province of China, the press release noted that 70 airlines have cancelled international flights to and from China, and that a

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