TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Fan Yun (范雲) announced on Sunday morning (Jan. 8) that Taiwan has been invited to join the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC).
Fan wrote in a Facebook post that she has been asked to co-chair Taiwan’s delegation alongside Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator Jang Chyi-lu (張其祿). She explained that IPAC member states must reach a certain level of consensus within their parliament to join, therefore the organization requires two parliamentarians from different parties to represent their country.
“This is a hard-won breakthrough! … Taiwan, due to the major opposition party Kuomintang’s continued boycott and refusal to participate, originally had difficulty joining,” Fan wrote. She added that thankfully, after many legislators actively contacted IPAC and joined its events, the organization finally decided to allow Taiwan’s participation, considering the country’s key role in Chinese issues.
Fan wrote, “Since the beginning of the U.S.-China trade war, revelations surrounding the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Belt and Road Initiative debt trap, scandals of human rights offenses, and the additional malicious invasion of Ukraine by (China’s) good friend Russia, an international democratic defense line has gradually taken form. Taiwanese issues are becoming more important, and we have worked hard for Taiwan to participate in international organizations.”
Around 40 legislators in Taiwan have applied for IPAC membership individually, according to Fan. “Once I begin my duty as a co-chair, the first thing I will do is to help like-minded Legislative Yuan colleagues get their membership as soon as possible.”
She wrote that through IPAC, she will also do her best to convey Taiwan’s will to defend itself, seek peace, and not concede to China’s campaigns against the world.
IPAC was founded in 2020 by parliamentarians from Australia, Canada, the European Parliament, Germany, Japan, Norway, Sweden, the U.K., and the U.S. Currently, it has 250 members from 30 countries.
