MEPs LEAD PUSH FOR DEEPER TAIWAN-EU RELATIONS: The European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee voted to approve a resolution supporting stronger ties between Taiwan and the EU, including a call for the European Commission to explore a Taiwan-EU Bilateral Investment Agreement. IPAC co-chair Reinhard Bütikofer MEP, one of the key backers of the motion, spoke to Newsweek on Chinese government attempts to block its adoption.
BRIEFING – CHINA’S EXTRAJUDICIAL DETENTION NETWORK: The Chinese government operates an increasingly expansive network of arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances as a tool of repression against critics of the Chinese Communist Party. The attached briefing from Safeguard Defenders details how tens of thousands are held captive or disappeared in this opaque system each year.
IPAC MEMBERS LEAD GLOBAL SOLIDARITY WITH LITHUANIA: IPAC co-chair Reinhard Bütikofer MEP led over 60 MEPs in a letter expressing the European Parliament’s solidarity with the Lithuania as it withstands trade sanctions and threats from the Chinese government. IPAC co-chair US Senator Marco Rubio also wrote to the Lithuanian President, commending their decision to open a Taiwan Representative Office.
MOROCCO UYGHUR EXTRADITION CASE POSTPONED: The extradition hearing for detained Uyghur activist Idris Hasan has been postponed to the 22nd of September following new charges submitted by the Chinese government. IPAC MPs continue to put pressure on the Moroccan government to block his extradition to China, with Cassy O’Connor MP raising the case in the Tasmanian Parliament.
