On the fourth day of their visit to Japan, Taiwan’s legislative delegation led by Vice President Dr. Johnny C. Chiang of the Legislative Yuan attended the closing ceremony of the Asian-Pacific Parliamentarians’ Union (APPU) on the morning of March 13, 2024. At the closing ceremony, a joint communique was signed by heads of the 11 attending delegations, along with Ambassador Eiichi Suzuki, who is the Secretary-General of the APPU Central Secretariat.
In the joint communiqué, it was confirmed that all three agreement drafts proposed by Taiwan, including the one urging support for Taiwan’s participation in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) were unanimously passed by the attending nations. Another confirmation was the announcement of Taiwan hosting the APPU 53rd General Assembly and 87th Council Meeting in 2025, with Papua New Guinea hosting in 2026.
Invited to make his address as the representative of the next host country, Vice President Chiang first expressed gratitude to the representatives of all attending nations and the organizer of the meeting this year. Chiang continued to point out that countries in Asia-Pacific often face all kinds of issues such as climate change, economic development, and public health, which are all beyond what a country can handle on its own; solutions could only be reached with every country working together. Taiwan will translate the results agreed upon at this meeting into tangible actions to enable more in-depth and concrete collaborations between countries in the future. Vice President Chiang showed gratitude specifically for the unanimous support from all attending delegations for the participation of the Republic of China (Taiwan) in the UNFCCC and other international organizations. As the host country for the meeting next year, the Republic of China (Taiwan) will be hosting the APPU event for the 11th time. Vice President Chiang sincerely invited members of Parliament from all member states to visit Taiwan for the grand event.
In closing, the Chair of the meeting delivered a closing remark to thank all attending member states for their active participation and announced that the 52nd annual meeting had concluded with success.
On the morning of March 13, 2024, Vice President Chiang, accompanied by delegation members, also held sideline talks with the delegation from the Republic of the Marshall Islands. During the meeting, Vice President Chiang mentioned his visit to the Marshall Islands ten years ago, describing it as a rare and special experience. He expressed sincere gratitude for the long-standing support of the Marshall Islands for Taiwan. Isaac Zackhras, the Deputy Speaker and head of the Marshall Islands delegation, expressed his pleasure at having the opportunity to engage in bilateral dialogue during this busy meeting schedule, believing it would contribute to deepening the friendship between the two countries. He emphasized that Taiwan and the Marshall Islands share democratic values, and the Marshall Islands will continue to steadfastly support Taiwan.
Vice President Chiang also expressed his gratitude to the delegation from Japan, including the head of the delegation Representatives Shunichi Yamaguchi, Japanese House of Councillors members Junzo Yamamoto, and Ambassador Eiichi Suzuki, the Secretary-General of the APPU Secretariat, for their strong support during the meeting.
During the three-day APPU meeting, Vice President Chiang was interviewed and featured in major Japanese media such as the Nikkei and Tokyo Television. The fruitful outcomes marked a perfect conclusion to the Legislative Yuan's inaugural overseas parliamentary diplomacy mission.
