TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) welcomed parliamentarians from around the world in Taipei on Monday (July 30) for an annual meeting that aims to counter the influence of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Hsiao welcomed the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) delegation, which consists of lawmakers from 29 countries and the European Parliament, per CNA. Hsiao said the world's democracies have a common agenda of ensuring peace and prosperity.
“Your presence here is at a very important moment, as we strive to make Taiwan much more resilient in our own self-defense,” Hsiao said. Taiwan also hopes to build a more resilient democracy, society, and economy, she said.
The IPAC group is led by Yasue Funayama, a member of Japan’s parliament who has previously tabled a resolution “expressing concern” about alleged human rights abuses in the Chinese province of Xinjiang. The conference will begin on Wednesday (July 31).
“The group expects to decide upon concrete coordinated campaigns to be pursued in their respective parliaments upon their return home,” IPAC said in a press release. "Cross-strait stability will be at the top of the (summit's) agenda, with high-level contributions from the Taiwanese government and world-leading experts," it continued.
The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will attend the summit.
CNA cited a Kuomintang (KMT) source who said the party does not send official delegations to IPAC events. KMT caucus deputy secretary-general Lin Szu-ming (林思銘) has said the party will not prevent members from attending the event.
The KMT, which consistently advocates for increased dialogue with China, likely chose not to attend to avoid aggravating Beijing. One of the representatives to the conference, Romanian parliamentarian Catalin Tenita, described CCP and Russian “thugs” in a Monday X post accompanied by a photo with DPP Legislators Fan Yun (范雲) and Wang Ting-yu (王定宇).
Also on Monday, AP reported that lawmakers from at least six countries said Chinese diplomats were encouraging them not to attend the conference. In response, IPAC issued a press release saying, “Democratically elected lawmakers are free to visit and support causes of their choosing.”
The 2024 IPAC delegation includes a representative from Taiwan’s formal ally Paraguay, and a representative from the Solomon Islands, which terminated formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan in favor of China in 2019.
Solomon Islands Member of Parliament Peter Kenilorea Jr. has been a vocal opponent of his country's security deal with China, signed after the diplomatic break with Taiwan.
