Mainland China’s latest Taiwan military drills condemned by European Parliament

MEPs throw their support behind Taipei in landslide vote on motion accusing Beijing of ‘constant distortion’ of UN resolution

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A screengrab taken from handout video footage released by mainland China’s People’s Liberation Army showing part of the military drills conducted around Taiwan on October 14. Photo: Eastern Theatre Command

Published: 1:43pm, 25 Oct 2024Updated: 6:31pm, 25 Oct 2024

The European Parliament has condemned Beijing’s recent military drills around Taiwan, in a resolution that threw the chamber’s support behind Taipei by a landslide majority.

In total, 432 members of the parliament voted in favour of a resolution that lashed out at mainland China’s “continued military provocations against Taiwan and its continued military build-up that is changing the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific”.

Just 60 lawmakers voted against the motion, with 71 abstaining.

The vote reflects a continued push from the parliament for the EU to bolster ties with Taiwan, and comes a week after it hosted the island’s former leader Tsai Ing-wen. The visit marked the highest-profile Taiwanese visit to Brussels to date.

The resolution called for Taipei’s admission to international bodies such as the World Health Organization and Interpol, and was held to coincide with the 53rd anniversary of United Nations resolution 2578, which saw Beijing replace Taipei as the official representative of China at the UN.

The European Parliament’s motion accused Beijing of “constant distortion of UN Resolution 2758 and its efforts to block Taiwan’s participation in multilateral organisations”.