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MEPs extend support for Lithuania amid tensions with China

More than 60 members of the European Parliament voiced their support for Lithuania through an open letter…reports Asian Lite News.

Members of the European Parliament extended support for Lithuania on Friday after its decision to enhance ties with Taiwan despite threats from China, reported Focus Taiwan.

More than 60 members of the European Parliament voiced their support for Lithuania through an open letter.

Members of the European Parliament including Petras Austrevicius from Lithuania, Reinhard Butikofer from Germany and members from 20 countries and five different political groups expressed their solidarity with the Baltic state of Lithuania and Taiwan by initiating an open letter, at a time of growing threats from China, reported Focus Taiwan

“The EU must continue to reiterate the right of all its Member States to conduct their economic, cultural and diplomatic relations with Taiwan as they see fit, and to do so free from threats and intimidation by the Chinese government. Taiwan has a vital role to play in the international community,” the letter read.

In July, Lithuania announced it would open a representative office in Taiwan right after Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said Taipei will open a representative office and name it “The Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania,” in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania.

Earlier in August, Lithuania’s vice foreign minister Mantas Adomenas said in an interview with CNA that his country will open the office by the end of this year and send a vice minister-level official from its foreign ministry or economics ministry to the opening ceremony.

In the open letter, these European lawmakers urged the European Union and its member states to take a strong stance against coercive diplomatic threats from China.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFgD4_aHrpY

The European lawmakers also called for the EU to take an effective anti-economic-coercion measure against China as soon as possible.

“With this letter, we want to assure our Lithuanian friends that we will not stop to work for broad EU solidarity vice versa the Chinese government’s punitive measures against them. Europe must stand united and defend our shared values,” Butikofer said in a statement.

On Wednesday, the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee passed a report titled ‘EU-Taiwan Relations and Cooperation’ and related amendments to enhance the ties between the EU and Taiwan. (ANI)

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MEPs demand action against China over HK

They also called for sanctions against Chinese and Hong Kong officials responsible for the growing “repression” in Hong Kong…reports Asian Lite News.

On the occasion of the first anniversary of Hong Kong’s national security law, members of the European Parliament wrote a joint letter to top EU leaders, demanding action against the Chinese authorities for the imposition of a legislation law that “destroyed” the ‘One country, two systems’.

In a letter addressed to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and President of the European Council Charles Michel, the EU members said that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) broke the promises made to Hong Kong citizens made in the Sino-British Joint Declaration.

Xi Jinping

“In Hong Kong, there is a clear desire of the people to maintain the city’s high level of autonomy and rule of law, exemplified by the umbrella protest movement in 2014 and the pro-democracy protest that began in 2019, during which over me-million Hong Kongers took the streets in an unprecedented fashion,” the letter said.

While stating that the integrity of the ‘One country, two systems’ has been destroyed, the members added: “The so-called national security law, the subsequent electoral reform law and the recent ban of the yearly-organized Tiananmen Vigil represent an unprecedented assault on the city’s identity, its autonomy, rule of law and fundamental freedoms, as well as on international agreements.”

The situation in Hong Kong is an important test case for the EU’s commitment to upholding freedom, democracy, human rights and rule of law internationally and for its credibility as a global actor, the members said.

They also called for sanctions against Chinese and Hong Kong officials responsible for the growing “repression” in Hong Kong.

“We call on the implementation of the Council Conclusions of July 2020, as well as the imposition of Magnitsky-style sanctions against those Chinese and Hong Kong officials responsible for the growing repression, in particular, Xia Baolong and Carrie Lam, the establishment of an international Hong Kong Contact Group, and the suspension of extradition treaties, as demanded by the European Parliament in its resolution of January 2021,” the letter added.

The letter was co-signed by several members including Reinhard Biitikofer MEP (Greens/EFA, Germany), Miriam Lexmann MEP (EPP, Slovakia) and Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar MEP (S&D, Spain). (ANI)

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