Lawmakers From 24 Countries Meet in Taipei to Counter China's Rise

Parliamentarians from 24 countries gather in Taipei for the IPAC Summit, despite efforts by Chinese diplomats to prevent their participation.

Transcript

00:00The Summit for the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, or IPAC, is having its fourth annual

00:04conference here in Taipei.

00:06It's a group of lawmakers from around the world who say they're focused on confronting

00:10China's rise.

00:1148 parliamentarians from 24 countries are joining, which the group says makes it the

00:16largest parliamentary delegation ever to visit Taiwan in an institutional capacity.

00:22Taiwan's top leaders are participating in the summit, including President Lai Ching-da

00:26and Vice President Xiaobie Kim.

00:28The group recently made headlines after it was revealed that lawmakers from at least

00:32six countries had been contacted by Chinese diplomatic staff about their trip to Taipei.

00:37They contacted the president of my political party.

00:40They asked him to stop me to travel to Taiwan, and he sent a message to them that he cannot

00:48stop me.

00:50I'm a free member of parliament to make decisions.

00:55If they think that they can tell foreign legislators where they can and cannot go,

00:59they have another thing coming.

01:01These are democratically, legitimately elected legislators in different countries, and they're

01:05going to go exactly where they are entitled to go.

01:08And that's why they're coming to Taiwan, and they are not going to be told by China that

01:12they can't come here.

01:14This isn't the first time the group has dealt with Chinese pressure.

01:16The U.S. Justice Department announced earlier this year that hundreds of accounts tied to

01:20the group, including every member of IPAC in the European Union, were targeted by a

01:25Chinese state-sponsored hacking operation.

01:28Now one of the major agenda items of this meeting is U.N. Resolution 2758, which gave

01:33the PRC China's seat at the United Nations, and which China has used to bolster its claim

01:38of sovereignty over Taiwan.

01:40Taiwan President Lai Ching-da addressed this issue in a speech during the summit, which

01:44he connected to a wider global threat.

01:46The U.N. Resolution 2758 is a misinterpretation of China's sovereignty, and it is not in line

01:52with the one-China principle.

01:53It is an attempt to limit Taiwan's international participation, and to build a legal foundation

01:59for China's military aggression against Taiwan.

02:02I want to emphasize that China's threat to any country is a threat to the world.

02:10IPAC members say they want this summit to produce a plan to fight back against China's

02:14claims on this resolution.

02:16After Lai's speech, the IPAC members presented Lai with a map of Taiwan and the Taiwan Strait.

02:21All their signatures were on Taiwan's side of the map, a symbolic gesture of their solidarity

02:25with the country.

02:27These lawmakers now return to their home countries, where they will have to see if this global

02:31turnout marks a turning point on confronting China, and whether they can turn their words

02:36into actions.

02:37Patrick Chun and Chris Gorin for Taiwan Plus.