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By Fion Khan / Staff writer, with CNA
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today thanked the UK and France after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron pledged their commitment to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
“We jointly reaffirm our commitment to peace and stability in the Korean peninsula, in the South and East China Seas, and in the Taiwan Strait, where we call for the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues,” Starmer and Macron said in a joint declaration after the 37th UK-France Summit in London yesterday.
Europe’s security is “inextricably linked” to the Indo-Pacific region, and the UK and France would work together “for a free, open, and sovereign Indo-Pacific” through new joint maritime security training and reciprocal base access, among other measures, the declaration said.
Photo: Yang Cheng-yu, Taipei Times
The statement marks the second time in the past few weeks that both countries have voiced their concerns about cross-strait tensions, following similar language in the G7 Leaders’ Communique released last month, the ministry said in a statement this morning.
The declaration by Starmer and Macron demonstrated that safeguarding peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait has become a consensus in the international community, the ministry said.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) highly welcomed and appreciated their commitment, it said.
As a responsible member of the international community and a democratic country, Taiwan would uphold the rules-based world order with democratic partners and contribute to a free, open and prosperous Indo-Pacific region, the ministry said.
