Belgium's House supports Taiwan in new resolution

Brussels/Taipei, March 21 (CNA) Belgium's House of Representatives on Thursday passed a resolution voicing support for Taiwan and condemning Beijing's increasingly aggressive behavior in the Indo-Pacific region.

The resolution, proposed by the House's Foreign Affairs Committee Chair and Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) Co-Chair Els Van Hoof and House member Nathalie Muylle, was passed by an overwhelming 126 votes, with none against and 13 abstentions.

It urged the Belgian government to "condemn the increasingly aggressive attitude of the People's Republic of China (PRC) towards Taiwan," and called for de-escalations of its diplomatic contacts with the PRC.

It also requested the government to advocate in the European Union "for strengthening the existing partnership with Taiwan, with a view to promoting common values and principles, including by concluding a resilient supply chain agreement and a bilateral investment agreement."

The resolution called for the government to strive "together with the governments of the federated entities, for more economic, scientific, cultural, and parliamentary exchanges between Belgium and Taiwan."

Beyond bilateral ties, the parliamentarians also advocated Taiwan's meaningful participation as an observer "in meetings, mechanisms, and activities of international bodies, such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)."

They also called out China's escalation of aggressive acts and urged it to "immediately cease all actions and intrusions into" Taiwan's air defense identification zone and violations over Taiwan's peripheral islands, while respecting the median line of the Taiwan Strait.

It urged Beijing to stop "all other gray zone military actions, including cyber and disinformation campaigns" and protested China's "continued distortion" of the United Nation's Resolution 2758, reiterating that "the resolution does not take a position on Taiwan."

The parliamentarians described China's "economic coercion" against Taiwan and other democracies as "illegal under the rules of the World Trade Organization."

In Taipei, Taiwan's Foreign Affairs Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) on Friday expressed gratitude for the Belgian House's support.

He said the ministry will keep deepening bilateral interactions and collaboration with Belgium, on the basis of the existing good relationship.