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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》Formosa Club calls for deeper EU-Taiwan ties
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Roy Chun Lee, center right, and Representative to the EU and Belgium Remus Chen, right, pose with members of the Formosa Club in Brussels on Wednesday. Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs via CNA
‘RECKLESS BEHAVIOR’: A summit in Brussels attended by foreign lawmakers said the cross-strait ‘status quo should not be unilaterally altered,’ calling for stability
By Liu Tzu-hsuan / Staff reporter
The Formosa Club has called for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and deeper cooperation between the EU and Taiwan.
The statement was issued after the group held its first Unity Summit in Brussels on Wednesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement yesterday.
“Cross-strait issues must be resolved by peaceful means, and the status quo should not be unilaterally altered against the will of Taiwanese,” the statement said.
The group opposes any reckless and aggressive behavior, which “unnecessarily escalate tensions in the region,” it added.
Taiwan, like other democracies, “has the right to develop comprehensive relations with other countries to advance the common interests of their peoples,” the ministry said.
The summit was attended, in person and virtually, by 27 cochairs and members of the European Parliament as well as lawmakers from 20 European parliaments and Canada, it said.
European Parliament-Taiwan Friendship Group chairman Michael Gahler, who presided over the summit, praised Taiwan’s contributions to global public health and its impressive achievements in preventing the COVID-19 pandemic, it said.
The group was launched in October 2019 by the chairs of Taiwan friendship groups in the European Parliament, and the parliaments of Germany, France and Britain, said Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Roy Lee （李淳）, who was invited to the event.
Following its lead, similar groups were formed in Latin America, Africa, West Asia, the Indo-Pacific region and the Caribbean, forming a powerful cross-parliamentary platform in support of Taiwan, he said.
Lee thanked the group for sending a joint letter to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus for a fourth consecutive year to advocate for Taiwan’s participation in the World Health Assembly （WHA）.
It has also condemned China’s military exercises around Taiwan through joint statements and letters, and has supported Lithuania’s move to deepen ties with Taiwan, he added.
In other news, the International Cooperation and Development Fund （ICDF） worked with Malteser International and Good Neighbors to hold a forum on the sidelines of the WHA to draw attention to mental health.
Government officials, industry representatives and academics from Belize, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Kitts and Nevis, the Kingdom of Eswatini and other countries joined the forum held on Monday in Geneva, Switzerland, ICDF Deputy Secretary-General Chen Ai-chen （陳愛貞） said yesterday.
Mental healthcare should never stop, said Minister of Health and Welfare Hsueh Jui-yuan （薛瑞元）, who is leading an action group to advocate for Taiwan during the WHA.
He also shared the programs Taiwan launched during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide psychological support to the public and frontline medical personnel.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
