Statement on supporting Taiwan’s meaningful participation in INTERPOL General Assembly 2018

As the Co-Chairs of the British-Taiwanese All-Party Parliamentary Group, we have for many years supported Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organisations where Taiwan can make concrete contributions, including INTERPOL. Therefore, we were dismayed to learn that Taiwan has yet to be invited to participate in the upcoming 87th INTERPOL General Assembly in Dubai as an observer due to unnecessary political considerations. We believe this will in turn obstruct the collective interests of the international community.

According to Article 2 of INTERPOL’s Constitution, INTERPOL’s aims are ‘to ensure and promote the widest possible mutual assistance between all criminal police authorities…’ Transnational crime is rampant in today’s globalized world, thus we must establish a reliable and seamless global security network. To this end, the cooperation of police agencies from all over the world is needed, and Taiwan’s presence is essential to the realization of this objective.

With a population of 23.5 million people, Taiwan is the world’s 22nd-largest economy and 17th-largest exporting country. Connecting Northeast and Southeast Asia, Taiwan serves as a hub for the movement of capital, goods, and people, with around 66 million passengers traveling through it in 2017 alone. Taiwan’s ability in sharing international security intelligence and combatting cross-border crime would contribute to the global security and counter terrorism efforts. At the same time, Taiwan needs to participate in INTERPOL General Assembly and gain direct access to the I-24/7 Global Police Communications System to ensure it has the ability and up-to-date knowledge to implement security checks at its borders and fight terrorism, human trafficking, and other transnational crimes.

We support Taiwan’s meaningful participation in INTERPOL, including in its General Assembly as an observer and in its meetings, mechanisms, and activities. We also support Taiwan to gain access to the I-24/7 Global Police Communications System and partake in key training programs, in order to fill the gap in the global security network and create together a safer world.

    
Nigel Evans MP                                 Lord Rogan                                                               

Posted on 2 November 2018 at 10.57 am