by Tusi Tala, Staff Writer
IPAC photo
Lawmakers from 23 countries across five continents including the Solomon Islands are in Taipei for a summit, the largest ever MP delegation visit to Taiwan. The lawmakers, drawn from a broad spectrum of the world’s political parties, are members of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), coming together for their annual Summit. The group expects to decide upon concrete coordinated campaigns to be pursued in their respective parliaments upon their return home.
Cross-Strait stability will be at the top of the agenda, with high level contributions from the Taiwanese government and world leading experts. The Summit will be delivered in Japanese, Mandarin, English and Spanish. Tech security will also be discussed, following revelations that hundreds of email accounts associated with IPAC were targeted by Ministry of State Security sponsored hacking group APT31.
Following a series of high-level engagements with Taiwan government officials on the 29th, IPAC’s Summit will begin on July 30th, concluding with a press conference at 16:00 on the same day.
Rt Hon Tom Tugendhat MP, former UK Security Minister, said: There has never been a more important time to stand with Taiwan. This huge show of solidarity illustrates that Cross-Strait stability is high in the minds of lawmakers around the world, from all sides of the political spectrum.
Pina Picierno MEP, European Parliament Vice-President said: In an environment of increasing partisan division and political violence, the importance of the IPAC project could not be starker. IPAC is creating space for consensus across party lines; for civility and compromise across the spectrum; demonstrating that some issues transcend party and geography. Taiwan is undoubtedly one of those issues.
