Month: September 2025

Source: Republic of China Taiwan

MOFA response to Japanese and Australian foreign and defense ministers reaffirming importance of cross-strait peace and stability

September 6, 2025 

The 12th Japan-Australia 2+2 Foreign and Defence Ministerial Consultations were held in Tokyo on September 5. The joint statement issued after the meeting reaffirmed the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as an essential element of regional and international security and prosperity. It also emphasized that cross-strait issues should be resolved peacefully through dialogue. Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung appreciates and welcomes Japan and Australia’s continued commitment to peace across the Taiwan Strait.
 
The joint statement expressed serious concern over China’s intensifying provocative military activities in the East and South China Seas and in the air and waters near Japan. It also reiterated strong opposition to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion. The ministers further noted with serious concern the strengthening of military cooperation between China and Russia and called on support from the international community to de-escalate and end the war.
 
Ongoing authoritarian expansionism is challenging the rules-based global order and has already destabilized the international situation. As a responsible member of the Indo-Pacific, Taiwan will continue to deepen cooperation with Japan, Australia, and other like-minded partners to jointly safeguard the universal values of freedom, democracy, and the rule of law. These efforts will contribute to maintaining peace, stability, and prosperity across the Taiwan Strait and around the world.

Source: Republic of China Taiwan

Foreign Minister Lin confers Friendship Medal of Diplomacy on French Senator Cadic

Date：2025-09-10
Data Source：Department of European Affairs

September 10, 2025No. 329On September 9, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung conferred the Friendship Medal of Diplomacy on Olivier Cadic, Vice-President of the Foreign Affairs, Defense and Armed Forces Committee of the French Senate. The award was given in recognition of Senator Cadic’s persistent efforts to deepen the cordial relations between Taiwan and France, as well as his outstanding contributions to building support for Taiwan in the international arena.Speaking at the ceremony, Minister Lin said that Senator Cadic was a long-term friend who had for many years staunchly advocated for Taiwan and defended freedom and democracy. Minister Lin noted that Senator Cadic had successfully called on the French parliament to introduce language in support of Taiwan into the seven-year Military Programming Law in 2023, including the affirmation that France would continue to defend freedom of navigation in the Taiwan Strait. This had made France the first major country in the world to enact legislation to ensure the unimpeded passage of ships through the strait. Minister Lin added that Senator Cadic, as cochair of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, had urged French parliamentarians to support IPAC’s campaigns. Expressing appreciation for Senator Cadic’s sincere friendship, Minister Lin said he was sincerely grateful for the active role that Senator Cadic had played in deepening Taiwan-France relations and conveyed the hope that he would continue to exert his influence in jointly strengthening bilateral ties.In his remarks, Senator Cadic said the medal was an honor that reflected the French Senate’s unwavering commitment to defending democracy. He thanked Minister Lin for promoting economic, trade, and technological exchanges between Taiwan and France, as well as bolstering the relationship between the two countries in concrete ways. Senator Cadic noted that Taiwan’s story had taught the world that democracy was not only a value but a powerful force for innovation. He also praised Deputy Minister François Chihchung Wu for working hard to expand the French Senate’s France-Taiwan Friendship Group when serving as Taiwan’s representative in Paris. He explained that the group had 62 members, far exceeding the 42-member France-China Friendship Group. Senator Cadic added that France would never let the rule of law and international norms be supplanted by the rule of force. As long as Taiwan stood firm, said Senator Cadic, universal hope would rise, and France would ensure that the light of freedom defended by Taiwan would not go out. Held in the auditorium at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a warm and dignified atmosphere, the ceremony was witnessed by Franck Paris, Director of the French Office in Taipei, and 50 other attendees.

Source: Republic of China Taiwan

September 9, 2025
No. 327
 
Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Baushuan Ger and Administrative Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Kuo-shian held a joint press conference on September 9 to promote Taiwan’s bids to join the United Nations (UN) and International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). During the event, they explained the government’s appeals and strategies to advance Taiwan’s participation in the UN and ICAO this year and called on the two organizations to include Taiwan at the earliest possible juncture.
 
The press conference was held as the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) opened at UN headquarters in New York City on September 9. The General Debate will be held from September 23 to 27 as well as on September 29. Separately, the 42nd session of the triennial ICAO Assembly will take place at ICAO headquarters in Montreal, Canada, from September 23 to October 3. 
 
Vice Minister Ger stated that the international community was facing serious challenges. In particular, he mentioned China’s continued gray-zone activities in the Taiwan Strait, South China Sea, and Indo-Pacific, as well as its use of lawfare, namely its misrepresentation of UNGA Resolution 2758, in an attempt to transform the Taiwan Strait into China’s internal waters and establish a legal basis for a future armed invasion.
 
Vice Minister Ger pointed out that while China often claimed to be a defender of multilateralism, regional peace, and international law, its actions were flagrantly the opposite, as it continually disregarded relevant international rules. He then cited examples: China announced adjustments to the M503 flight route and unilaterally activated the W121, W122, and W123 routes without prior consultation with Taiwan as is required by the ICAO Air Traffic Services Planning Manual. Additionally, in February, China abruptly designated a military exercise zone off the coasts of Kaohsiung and Pingtung in Taiwan for live-fire drills. He added that such actions demonstrated that there was a discrepancy between China’s claims and actual conduct and underscored its designs to disrupt the rules-based international order, which posed a serious threat to regional peace and aviation safety.
 
Vice Minister Ger emphasized that Taiwan, located on the front lines in the first island chain in the Indo-Pacific, firmly upheld the values of democracy and freedom. Noting that Taiwan was an economic and technological powerhouse, he stressed that it was also an important hub for global air and maritime transport. Vice Minister Ger then added that Taiwan had demonstrated to the world many times that it was a reliable actor willing to make contributions and provide assistance, making it an indispensable partner in achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
 
Vice Minister Ger mentioned that Taiwan had long been excluded from the UN system because of the intentional distortion of UNGA Resolution 2758 by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the improper linkage between the “one China principle” and the resolution. As a matter of fact, UNGA Resolution 2758 only resolved the issue of the “China” seat in the UN. It made no mention of Taiwan throughout its entire text nor stated that Taiwan was part of the PRC. Moreover, the resolution did not authorize the PRC to represent Taiwan in the UN system and thus had nothing to do with Taiwan. Only the democratically elected government of Taiwan, he said, had the right to represent the Taiwanese people in the UN system and at other international venues.
 
Vice Minister Ger said that as the erroneous interpretation of UNGA Resolution 2758 had become the primary impediment to Taiwan’s efforts concerning international participation, the government’s appeals in this year’s bid for UN participation would primarily focus on enhancing the international community’s correct understanding of UNGA Resolution 2758 and include the following three items:
1. The UN should recognize that the deliberate distortion of UNGA Resolution 2758 has posed a serious threat to the status quo across the Taiwan Strait as well as to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific. The UN should remain neutral and not abet China’s political maneuvers to suppress Taiwan.2. As UNGA Resolution 2758 does not preclude Taiwan’s participation in the UN system, the UN should seek appropriate ways to include Taiwan and facilitate Taiwan’s efforts to contribute to the realization of the SDGs.
3. The UN should refrain from citing UNGA Resolution 2758 to inappropriately deny the right of Taiwan passport holders and journalists to visit, attend meetings and activities, and engage in newsgathering at UN premises. 
 
Vice Minister Ger explained that Taiwan’s UN campaign this year would remain consistent with the steadfast, pragmatic approach of previous years. The government would, he said, invite diplomatic allies’ permanent representatives to the UN to send a joint letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres and would request that diplomatic allies speak up for Taiwan during the General Debate. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) would also host events and conduct a promotional campaign in New York during the UNGA. He also mentioned that MOFA extended its appreciation to the Legislative Yuan for once again organizing a cross-party delegation of legislators to travel to New York to showcase to the UN community the strong support of the people of Taiwan for the government’s bid to participate in the UN. 
 
Concerning Taiwan’s bid to attend the ICAO Assembly, Vice Minister Ger stated that MOFA would work with Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) to urge ICAO to invite Taiwan to attend the ICAO assembly as a guest, following the 2013 precedent. Regardless of whether or not an invitation was extended, he said, the government would send an ICAO task force to Montreal to convey Taiwan’s appeal to attending delegations in person to seek support. MOFA would also conduct a promotional campaign to explain to other nations the necessity of including Taiwan in ICAO. 
 
Lastly, Vice Minister Ger pointed out that Taiwan was a Taiwan of the world and that MOFA would continue to work for the ideals of integrated diplomacy—with democracy, peace, and prosperity at its core—as it promoted Taiwan’s international participation. He also urged the UN to include Taiwan at the earliest possible time so as to fulfil its commitment to leave no one behind and realize such global objectives as advancing sustainable development, aviation safety, human rights protection, peace, and prosperity. (E)

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Source: Republic of China Taiwan

In order to further strengthen ties with Taiwanese students in New South Wales and in light of the recent leadership transitions within various Taiwanese student associations across universities, we held the second “Taiwanese Student Associations in New South Wales Exchange Forum” on September 12. Newly elected presidents and committee members from four Taiwanese student associations in the Sydney area, along with students from Western Sydney University, were invited to participate.
Director General David Cheng-Wei Wu explained the purpose of holding this forum and encouraged students to study hard, broaden their international perspectives, and wished all Taiwanese students a pleasant and safe experience in Australia. DG Wu also reminded them to make good use of the TECO BELL communication platform established by the office to receive timely and important information, remain vigilant about personal safety, and, if necessary, use the platform to report the status of Taiwanese students at their respective universities so that the office can provide appropriate assistance.
TECO also arranged for colleagues from various divisions—including the OCAC Center, Consular, Immigration, and Education sections—to brief students on services relevant to their needs. In addition, at the office’s invitation, the Sydney City Police Area Command dispatched a senior officer and a multicultural liaison officer to deliver a safety briefing for Taiwanese students. Their presentation covered emergency contact channels, the New South Wales Police Emergency Plus app, Crime Stoppers, Scam Alert, ID Support, and other crime prevention mechanisms. They also provided detailed explanations on the growing number of scams and engaged in interactive discussions with students about real-life cases.
Given the recent increase in community protests across Australia and the ever-changing tactics of telecommunications scams, TECO hopes that through information sharing and strengthened communication, Taiwanese students can enjoy peace of mind while pursuing their studies in Australia.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4

     Following are the remarks by the Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, at a media session after receiving vaccinations against seasonal influenza and COVID-19 today (September 15):
 
Reporter: Regarding the reasons behind procuring Sinovac vaccines for the first time, could you explain what is the rationale behind? Out of the 300 000 doses of Sinovac vaccines procured by the Government, how many of them will be supplied to schools? Are there any concerns expressed by the schools? Will they be given options to pick other brands? Also, regarding the lack of specific clinical trial data on pregnant women, why hasn’t the administration ban them from taking the Sinovac vaccines? Do you think that the lack of data would affect public choice?
 
Secretary for Health: I have to emphasise that the procurement process for vaccines is based on special requirements submitted by our experts in the Department of Health. All vaccines that are registered and approved in Hong Kong – only these vaccines would be eligible in the tendering and procurement process. Regarding the reasons we choose vaccines from different sources, this is a very important strategy when we are deciding on mass procurement for the benefit of the situation, like the seasonal influenza. There is a specific time limit for vaccination, and we have to ensure that we have a diversified source to make sure we have adequate supply of vaccines within that specific time. That’s one of the reasons we would not just put all eggs in one basket. We would diversify the sources, especially the Sinovac. The procurement and tendering processes of Sinovac vaccines are all in accordance with rules and regulations. We are glad that there is a source of vaccines from our Motherland. It will give us more confidence in the supply.
 
During the COVID-19 epidemic, we used Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines. In fact, we have used over nine million doses of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines – the same inactivated virus, the same platform with very high safety and advocacy profile. It gives us more confidence, and will provides us better strategy in the future to ensure an adequate supply of vaccines, and maybe for other healthcare products as well. We have a good source of supply and more diversified supplies. For emerging communicable diseases, it is even more important that we have a stable source. Remember during the COVID-19 time, there was a difficulty in getting supply of these new COVID-19 vaccines, and this was a global problem. That’s why we have to address this issue.

For the children, they will be given either the choices of inactivated virus vaccine injection, or the nasal form of vaccines. They have the choice, but as I have already emphasised, the choice is based on medical reasons. There are different platforms of vaccines, different sources and ways of administration. We do not need to choose the brand. Choosing brand is not what we are looking forward to. We have to emphasise that all inactivated form of vaccines in Hong Kong are safe and effective, and they are suitable for our children.

For pregnant ladies, all pharmaceutical companies, including vaccine manufacturers, when they are conducting the clinical trials, they may not include specific groups in the trials. That’s why for the Sinovac vaccines, they did not include pregnant women in their indication, but it doesn’t mean that this vaccine is contraindicated during pregnancy, it is not a contraindication. Pregnancy is not a contraindication for this vaccine. But because it is not included in the indication, we would advise pregnant ladies to consult doctors. After they receive advices from the doctors, they would be able to choose the vaccines – not because of the brand, but the medical reasons. I have emphasised again that, we have to make a choice for vaccines for medical reasons, but not for choosing the brand. Thank you.

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the remarks.)

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4

     The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (September 15) that a sample of chicken rice was found to contain Salmonella, a pathogen. The CFS is following up on the incident.

     “The CFS collected the above-mentioned sample from a restaurant in Tuen Mun for testing. The test result showed the presence of Salmonella in 25 grams of the sample, exceeding the criterion of the Microbiological Guidelines for Food which states that Salmonella should not be detected in 25g of a ready-to-eat food sample,” a spokesman for the CFS said.

     The CFS has instantly sent staff to the restaurant concerned for investigation. The restaurant concerned has been informed of the irregularity. The CFS has provided health education on food safety and hygiene to the person-in-charge and staff of the restaurant. The restaurant has also stopped selling the affected product, and has temporarily suspended the business for carrying out thorough cleaning and disinfection according to the CFS’s advice.

     According to section 54 of the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Cap. 132), all food available for sale in Hong Kong, locally produced or imported, should be fit for human consumption. An offender is subject to a maximum fine of $50,000 and imprisonment for six months upon conviction.

     “Salmonella infection may cause fever and gastrointestinal upset such as vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhoea. The effects on infants, young children, the elderly and people with a weak immune system could be more severe and may even lead to death,” the spokesman said.

     The CFS will continue to follow up on the incident and take appropriate action to safeguard food safety and public health. An investigation is ongoing.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4

A man who went missing in Chai Wan has been located.

Li Lee, aged 56, went missing after he left his caring home on Kam Wa Street on August 9 afternoon. Staff of the caring home then made a report to Police.

The man was located at a park on Hing Fat Street this afternoon (September 15). He sustained no injuries and no suspicious circumstances were detected.