Dutch lawmaker highlights need for freedom of navigation in Taiwan Strait

Taipei, July 7 (CNA) Visiting Dutch parliamentarian Jan Paternotte has expressed support for upholding freedom of navigation in the Taiwan Strait, one of the world's busiest commercial waterways, and highlighted its importance to the international community.

"This year, the world has experienced why freedom of navigation has not just been established as a legal right for all nations for over 100 years, but why it is pivotal to preserve that freedom for the world's prosperity and energy security," Paternotte said while meeting President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) at the Presidential Office.

He appeared to be referring to Iran's control over the Strait of Hormuz, through which around one-quarter of the world's crude oil and one-fifth of its natural gas transits, after the United States and Israel attacked Iran.

Paternotte, who co-chairs the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), said that upholding the status quo in the Taiwan Strait and preserving freedom of navigation is a "priority issue" for IPAC.

He said his delegation will discuss practical steps consistent with IPAC's Operation Measure Impact of a Shock in the Taiwan Strait (MIST) campaign and Initiative 2758 at the Taiwan International Ocean Forum, which will be held in Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday.

Both initiatives stress the importance of strengthening Taiwan's resilience through international cooperation, including maritime security, Paternotte said.

Operation MIST is an IPAC campaign launched in 2024 that aims to rebut French President Emmanuel Macron's 2023 remark on his return trip from a state visit to China that Europe should not be drawn into any conflicts "that are not ours," referring to a potential conflict between China and the United States over Taiwan.

Initiative 2758 is another IPAC campaign that seeks to counter China's distortion of United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758, which Beijing has invoked to justify its claim over Taiwan.

"I'm aware that standing here in this building, for some of my colleagues, this carries a cost," Paternotte said.

"But we are here anyway. That is precisely the point," he said.

Paternotte cited a Chinese state-backed hacker group targeting the email accounts of all European Union IPAC members and pressure and threats from Chinese diplomats in attempts to dissuade his colleagues from attending IPAC summits or sending delegations to Taiwan.

In his remarks, Lai said maritime security in the Indo-Pacific region has faced unprecedented challenges in the form of "gray zone" harassment, skirmishes stemming from maritime law enforcement and sabotage of undersea communications cables.

Lai referenced an incident last month in which a Taiwanese delegation was denied entry by the Kenyan government to a pre-conference symposium at the 11th Our Ocean Conference in Mombasa, where a Taiwanese academic was scheduled to present a research paper.

Faced with such "unreasonable" political interference, Lai stressed that the ocean knows no boundaries, that maritime governance must not be restricted by political factors, and that Taiwan's resolve to engage with the world will not change.