November 12, 2024
No. 410
The 92nd session of the General Assembly of the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) was held in Glasgow, United Kingdom, from November 4 to 7. In an unprecedented show of global support, executive and legislative branches of government, interparliamentary organizations, and prominent individuals of over 70 countries endorsed Taiwan’s bid to participate in INTERPOL. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) sincerely thanks the international community for its calls for justice for Taiwan.
This year, Taiwan’s diplomatic allies voiced their support for Taiwan in multiple ways. Recognizing Taiwan’s contributions to fighting crime over the years and underscoring the paramount importance of Taiwan’s inclusion in the system to combat transnational crime, they staunchly backed Taiwan’s involvement in INTERPOL, writing letters and raising the issue with the INTERPOL president and secretary general. In addition, the heads of delegations from Belize, Eswatini, the Marshall Islands, Palau, Paraguay, Saint Christopher and Nevis, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines produced videos urging support for Taiwan’s participation in INTERPOL.
Like-minded countries have also continued to publicly call for Taiwan’s engagement with INTERPOL and other international organizations on numerous occasions. The Group of Seven (G7) Leaders’ Communiqué and the chair’s statement issued after the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting both reaffirmed support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. Joint statements released following the UK-Australia Ministerial Consultations and the France-Australia Foreign and Defense Ministerial Consultations also backed Taiwan’s involvement in the global arena.
In addition, representative offices of like-minded nations demonstrated support for Taiwan on social media platforms. The American Institute in Taiwan shared Taiwan’s INTERPOL campaign film on its official Facebook page, calling for Taiwan’s substantive and meaningful participation in the international community as well as in collective efforts to advance global security. The Australian Office posted Taiwan’s INTERPOL campaign logo on its official social media accounts to express support and called for active collaboration among law enforcement agencies worldwide to combat transnational crime.
Support from various parliaments was also strong. The European Parliament, the Czech Senate, the Dutch House of Representatives, the Saint Christopher and Nevis National Assembly, the Guam Legislature, and other parliaments adopted resolutions endorsing Taiwan’s participation in INTERPOL. The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, the Australian Senate, the Canadian House of Commons, the Italian Chamber of Deputies, and the Guatemalan Congress also passed resolutions backing Taiwan’s participation in international organizations. Parliamentarians from the Republic of Korea (ROK), Germany, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Latvia, Estonia, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, and other countries, as well as Formosa Club members in various regions, sent individual or joint letters to the INTERPOL president or secretary general calling for INTERPOL to accept Taiwan into its fold.
In terms of international press coverage, Taiwan’s campaign was featured in 195 media reports. These included an op-ed entitled “Joining hands with Taiwan to build a safer global village: Supporting Taiwan’s participation in INTERPOL” by Commissioner Chou Yew-woei of the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB), letters to the editor from Taiwan’s overseas missions, press interviews with heads of mission, and other related articles. News outlets that published the pieces included Newsmax and the National Interest in the United States; EU Political Report and Modern Diplomacy in the European Union; the Mainichi Shimbun in Japan; News1 in the ROK; The Statesman in India; Le Formiche and Notizie Geopolitiche in Italy; La Razón in Spain; Gazeta Wyborcza in Poland; and The Baltic Times in Latvia. A video produced by the CIB for this year’s INTERPOL bid called Borderline Operations was posted on the Facebook and X accounts of MOFA and Taiwan’s overseas missions, the Trending Taiwan YouTube channel, and other channels, accumulating more than 2.81 million views. Related posts on MOFA’s new media accounts, including Facebook, X, Instagram, and Threads, were seen over 235,000 times.
MOFA emphasizes that the global security map is incomplete without Taiwan. Taiwan’s exclusion from INTERPOL undermines concerted efforts to maintain global security and jeopardizes the welfare of people worldwide. Taiwan is both willing and able to work with the international community to combat transnational crime. It urges INTERPOL to uphold the principles of professionalism and neutrality, swiftly include Taiwan in the global law enforcement network, and work with Taiwan on joint efforts to ensure international security. (E)