New Southbound Policy Portal

 

The 91st General Assembly of the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) was held in Vienna, Austria, from November 28 to December 1. Although Taiwan was not invited to attend, international support for its participation increased significantly this year. Calls for Taiwan’s inclusion came from the executive and legislative branches of government, interparliamentary organizations, and prominent individuals of over 60 countries. This demonstrates that more and more nations recognize the need to include Taiwan in the global system to combat transnational crime. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) sincerely appreciates the staunch support that Taiwan has received from the international community.

This year, Taiwan’s diplomatic allies wrote letters, made statements, issued press releases, produced videos, and took various other actions to endorse Taiwan’s campaign. Eswatini, Palau, Saint Christopher and Nevis, Paraguay, Belize, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and the Marshall Islands spoke up for Taiwan at the INTERPOL General Assembly, drawing the attention of participating countries and effectively raising the visibility of Taiwan’s bid.

Like-minded countries have also actively called for Taiwan’s participation in INTERPOL and other international organizations. Declarations of support were included in a communiqué and joint statement issued by the G7 foreign ministers and the EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy; joint statements issued after foreign and defense ministerial consultations and meetings between France and Australia, the United Kingdom and Australia, the United States and Australia, and the United Kingdom and Japan; a joint statement from the US secretary of state and the Lithuanian foreign minister; and the recently announced 2023-2027 Roadmap on Japan-France Cooperation. Foreign Minister Hanke Bruins Slot of the Netherlands also backed Taiwan’s international participation in response to a question in parliament.

Support from national parliaments and interparliamentary organizations was fairly strong too. In the United States, senators from both sides of the aisle introduced the Taiwan Relations Reinforcement Act; Congress leaders issued a statement backing Taiwan; and the senates or houses of representatives of 32 state legislatures passed resolutions in support of Taiwan. The Czech Senate, the Polish-Taiwanese Parliamentary Group, the Public Security Committee of the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies, the Guatemala-Taiwan parliamentary friendship association, and the National Assembly of Saint Christopher and Nevis also voted through resolutions supporting Taiwan. In September, the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China adopted the Prague Communiqué, in which it once again endorsed Taiwan’s meaningful participation in INTERPOL and other international organizations. Parliamentarians from Brazil, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Estonia, Spain, Mexico, Chile, the Republic of Korea (ROK), the Philippines, Colombia, South Africa, and other countries also expressed support for Taiwan through individual or joint letters.

In terms of international press coverage, Taiwan’s campaign was featured in 162 media reports. These included an op-ed entitled “Jointly combating new forms of transnational crime through real-time cooperation” by Commissioner Chou Yew-woei of the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB), letters to the editor from Taiwan’s overseas missions, press interviews with heads of mission, and other related articles. News outlets that published the pieces included the Washington Times, National Review, Voice of America, and the Diplomat of the United States; Mainichi Shimbun of Japan; Hankook Ilbo of the ROK; the Post of New Zealand; Politiken of Denmark; La Razón of Spain; Gazeta Wyborcza and Rzeczpospolita of Poland; and the Baltic Times of Latvia. A video produced by the CIB for this year’s INTERPOL campaign called The Bracelet was posted on the Facebook and X accounts of MOFA and Taiwan’s overseas missions, the Trending Taiwan YouTube channel, and other avenues, accumulating more than 870,000 views and shared by the Australian Office in Taiwan.

Furthermore, a video advertisement titled A Safer World, Taiwan Can Help was played on large electronic billboards at Vienna Airport and outside the INTERPOL General Assembly venue, effectively raising awareness and support for Taiwan’s bid among national representatives.

MOFA underlines that global cooperation is needed to ensure that there are no gaps or loopholes in the fight against transnational crime. As a specialist organization that promotes cooperation between law enforcement agencies around the world, INTERPOL should not exclude any stakeholders based on political considerations. MOFA urges INTERPOL to uphold the principles of professionalism and neutrality and to swiftly include Taiwan in the global law enforcement network to create a safer world. (E)