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Authored by Dr. Lin Chia-lung, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the ROC (Taiwan), this opinion piece outlines growing threats to the global rules-based framework, arguing that authoritarian powers are actively eroding long-standing international safeguards to rewrite global norms in their favor. Even core UN Charter principles — including the peaceful resolution of disputes and the ban on the threat or use of military force — are now facing open, brazen violations.

The global community now stands at a defining crossroads, Lin argues. Global actors can either coordinate to uphold international justice, defend the rule of law, and preserve global peace and security, or allow the existing world order to collapse, taking with it the global protections for freedom, self-determination, and democratic governance. This stark choice is most visible in the Indo-Pacific’s first island chain, where regional security has come under mounting pressure from China. According to Lin, China has consistently deployed gray-zone tactics — ranging from military intimidation and cyberattacks to economic coercion — to unilaterally alter existing regional rules and norms.

As a frontline defender of freedom and democracy, Taiwan remains committed to upholding the cross-strait status quo. But Lin emphasizes that preserving regional peace and stability is not exclusively a Taiwanese interest; it is a shared priority for the entire international community.

The Taiwan Strait stands as one of the world’s busiest maritime shipping routes and a critical artery for global supply chains. Its importance to global security and economic prosperity has been repeatedly highlighted in official statements from the G7, as well as in multilateral and bilateral meetings between the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and other like-minded nations. A growing global coalition has publicly emphasized the indispensable value of maintaining cross-strait peace and stability.

Lin also draws attention to another growing threat to the integrity of the rules-based order: China’s deliberate distortion of United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758. Adopted in 1971, the resolution only addresses China’s seat representation at the United Nations; the original text makes no mention of Taiwan, does not rule on Taiwan’s political status, and does not bar Taiwan from participating in the UN system. Despite this, Lin argues that China has falsely conflated Resolution 2758 with the so-called “one China principle,” using the misrepresented resolution to block Taiwan’s access to the UN and other international intergovernmental bodies. If this distortion is left unchallenged, Lin warns, it will set a dangerous legal precedent that could be used as a pretext for future military aggression against Taiwan across the Taiwan Strait.

Even though Taiwan is currently excluded from UN membership, Lin stresses that Taiwan remains committed to contributing positively to global collective action. Taiwan’s unique strengths in advanced manufacturing, disaster response, and public health create meaningful opportunities to support global public goods, he notes.

Taiwan has pursued what Lin calls a “value-added, integrated foreign policy” centered on deepening democratic alliances, advancing collective security, and building global economic resilience. In partnership with like-minded nations, Taiwan works to advance democratic governance, human rights, and individual freedom across the globe. As a global leader in semiconductor manufacturing, artificial intelligence, and cutting-edge technology, Taiwan is committed to developing supply chains that are secure, resilient, and not dependent on authoritarian regimes, Lin says.

Through the Diplomatic Allies Prosperity Project, Taiwan also works to foster shared economic growth with its diplomatic partners. Taiwan shares its technical expertise and resources to develop technology-focused development projects with partner nations, helping them address local development challenges and build domestic capacity.

Concrete examples of these successful collaborations, Lin notes, include the development of an integrated national healthcare information system with Paraguay, the construction of a strategic oil reserve facility in Eswatini, and a partnership with Palau National Hospital to roll out smart healthcare infrastructure. These initiatives have improved local data management and operational efficiency, strengthened national energy security, supported industrial growth, and advanced the UN Sustainable Development Goals in partner nations.

Khalilur Rahman, President-elect of the upcoming 81st United Nations General Assembly, has identified restoring global trust in multilateral institutions and managing UN institutional transformation as the core themes of his presidency. Lin confirms that Taiwan fully shares these goals and stands ready to contribute to achieving them.

Lin argues that restoring global confidence in the United Nations must start with fair and equitable treatment of all members of the international community. True institutional transformation cannot be achieved when a constructive, reliable stakeholder is unjustly locked out of the system, he says.

Lin closes with a call on the international community to uphold core principles of inclusive multilateralism, leaving no nation behind, peaceful dispute resolution, and the rejection of threats or the use of force. These are the foundational values that underpin the rules-based international order, and they must be applied consistently, without exception, he argues.

“The free world needs Taiwan — and a stronger, more credible United Nations needs Taiwan’s meaningful participation,” Lin writes. Working collaboratively with Taiwan will strengthen global collective security, boost global economic and technological resilience, and expand the global capacity to push back against authoritarian pressure. Ensuring Taiwan’s meaningful participation in the United Nations system is therefore a critical step toward building a more inclusive, secure, resilient, and rules-based global order, Lin concludes.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this piece are solely those of the author, and do not necessarily represent the official views or editorial position of iWitness News. Op-eds can be submitted to [email protected] for consideration.

In a landmark address to Parliament Thursday, St. Vincent and the Grenadines Deputy Prime Minister and National Security Minister St. Clair Leacock has issued a clear call for senior police officers unwilling to advance the new administration’s public safety agenda to follow the lead of departing colleagues and leave their posts, as the government pushes forward with a sweeping restructuring of the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force (RSVGPF) to curb rising gun violence and homicides.

Since the New Democratic Party took power in November, at least two high-ranking officers have opted not to serve under the new administration and requested early retirement or leave, which the government granted, Leacock told lawmakers. He declined to name the departing officers, but made clear that more personnel changes are on the table if sitting leaders fail to meet performance expectations. “It may well be that there are one or two more who should take that example and go home and make room for others who want to do it,” Leacock said. “If they don’t deliver, believe in me, I’ll make the recommendations for those who want to serve this nation and this administration faithfully well, to be put into position. I wouldn’t hesitate in it.”

Leacock’s remarks mark the most explicit public signal yet that the new government intends to reshape top police leadership amid widespread public anxiety over violent crime. The address also served as a defense of the changes his administration has already implemented over its first nine months in office, and a sharp critique of the force’s previous leadership structure.

Current substantive Police Commissioner Enville Williams is currently on seven months’ paid leave, with Trevor Bailey appointed to serve as acting commissioner. Leacock implicitly criticized Williams’ tenure, saying the permanent commissioner took six months to recognize that his deputy deserved to accompany him on international work trips, a practice that left the deputy sidelined on too many occasions. In contrast, Leacock praised Bailey and Rapid Response Unit (RRU) head Nolan “Grandpa” Dalloway for their consistent, real-time performance on reporting crime trends to his office.

To boost operational capacity, Leacock laid out plans to reallocate new police recruits: 30 incoming trainees will be assigned to the Special Service Unit and another 30 to the RRU, a move designed to rebuild the specialized units and increase the number of uniformed officers conducting on-foot patrols across communities. Leacock also confirmed he has already identified preferred candidates to fill key leadership roles in specialized units, including the Special Services Unit and the narcotics division.

A former uniformed officer with a decade of experience training new police recruits as a lecturer, Leacock framed his leadership of the national security portfolio as a deliberate effort to fix long-standing institutional weaknesses in the RSVGPF. “I’m in this job now for about nine months, and I applied for it because I was confident I can do it better than my predecessor. And so far, I’m doing exactly that,” he told Parliament.

Despite pushing for personnel changes, Leacock struck a balance by pledging to professionalize the force and reduce routine political interference in day-to-day police operations. He noted that promotions going forward will be based on performance evidence rather than partisan political ties, even though the administration has not yet completed a full year in office to conduct formal annual performance reviews. Leacock described his role as setting policy direction and receiving operational updates, while uniformed police professionals remain in charge of executing frontline work, singling out acting Assistant Commissioner Benton Smith for his strong human resource leadership.

The personnel changes come as part of the government’s broader one-year strategic crime reduction plan, centered on intelligence-led, targeted policing, aggressive crackdowns on illegal firearms trafficking, strengthened criminal investigations that prioritize forensic evidence, expanded police presence and patrols across communities, deployment of new surveillance tools including drones and closed-circuit cameras, and deeper community policing engagement with schools, churches, youth groups and local business associations.

Leacock emphasized that the New Democratic Party administration views recent gun violence and homicide incidents as a critical national priority, noting that the success of any anti-crime strategy depends heavily on the quality of police leadership and officer morale — two factors directly tied to the ongoing personnel shakeup in the RSVGPF’s top ranks.

On August 27, a milestone cultural exchange event unfolded at Kingstown’s Peace Memorial Hall, bringing 24 selected Taiwan International Youth Ambadors together with their peers from St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) for the Taiwan-SVG Cultural Night, a celebration timed to the 45th anniversary of formal diplomatic relations between the two nations.

The 24 young Taiwanese delegates were chosen from a pool of more than 600 competitive applicants, and arrived in SVG for a five-day visit from August 26 to 30, led by head of delegation Andy Liu and deputy head Pei-Fen Hsieh. The high-profile cultural night drew a roster of senior SVG officials, including Governor General Sir Stanley John, Deputy Prime Minister St. Clair Leacock, Foreign Affairs Minister Dwight Fitzgerald Bramble, Youth, Sports, Culture and Creative Industries Minister Kaschaka Cupid, and Education, Vocational Training, Innovation, Digital Transformation and Information Minister Phillip Jackson. In total, more than 230 attendees filled the venue, ranging from Acting Commissioner of Police Trevor Bailey and other senior government representatives to artists, cultural figures, local students, and media representatives.

In her opening address to the gathering, Fiona Fan, Taiwan’s ambassador to SVG, emphasized that the youth delegation’s visit carries special meaning amid the 45th anniversary celebrations. Over more than four decades, the deep-rooted friendship between the two countries has translated into tangible progress across SVG, including flagship infrastructure projects such as Argyle International Airport and Kingstown’s new port development. Fan noted that youth empowerment has long remained a core shared policy priority for both governments, with Taiwan actively advancing the Taiwan Global Pathfinder Initiative to create opportunities for young people to pursue collaborative goals across its allied nations. She added that cultural exchanges in music, performance, and traditional arts cut through geographical distance, forging deeper personal connections between the two peoples and strengthening the foundation of bilateral friendship.

Deputy Prime Minister Leacock, who visited Taiwan earlier this year, shared his first-hand impressions of the island, praising Taiwan’s remarkable development, social order, rich cultural heritage, and strong community resilience. He urged young delegates from both countries to build lasting cross-border friendships that will continue to grow alongside the enduring diplomatic ties between their nations.

The evening’s performance lineup showcased the diverse cultural identity of Taiwan through three curated programs: “Melodious Island Sounds”, “The Beauty of Taiwanese Folklore”, and “Shine Shine Taiwan”. The Taiwanese youth ambassadors presented a dynamic range of acts, from traditional Hakka cultural performances and Taiwanese opera to martial arts demonstrations, folk songs, contemporary rap, street dance, and even rally tunes celebrating Taiwan’s baseball culture. In a reciprocal display of cultural exchange, Vincentian performers took the stage to share traditional African-Caribbean dance, and delighted the audience by arranging popular Taiwanese songs for performance on the iconic Caribbean steel pan.

The highlight of the night came when the Taiwanese delegation joined local performers for a joint rendition of SVG’s traditional Tin-Go-Lay and Maypole dances. Remarkably, the young Taiwanese participants had only a few hours of rehearsal earlier the same day to prepare, a testament to the speed and warmth of connection forged through youth exchange. The cultural night is just one part of a full schedule of activities organized by the Taiwan Embassy in SVG during the delegation’s visit, which also includes official courtesy calls, youth networking sessions, basketball exchange activities, and site visits to ongoing bilateral cooperation projects.

During a pre-event briefing with the delegation at the Taiwan Embassy, Ambassador Fan reiterated the importance of shared values in bilateral relations, noting that the longstanding steadfast friendship between Taiwan and SVG is rooted in their shared commitment to freedom and democracy. She outlined Taiwan’s ongoing efforts to deepen collaborative development through the Diplomatic Allies Prosperity Project, and encouraged the young ambassadors to engage openly with Vincentian youth to advance people-to-people diplomacy.

Shortly after their arrival in SVG on August 26, the delegation held an official courtesy call with Foreign Minister Bramble, who also holds portfolios for foreign trade, foreign investment and diaspora affairs. Bramble extended a warm welcome to the delegation on the occasion of the 45th diplomatic anniversary, expressing his expectation that the visit will deepen mutual understanding and connection between the two countries’ populations. The following day, the delegation paid a courtesy call to Governor General Sir Stanley John, where they performed traditional Taiwanese folk tunes on native instruments and held in-depth exchanges with local young people. Sir Stanley encouraged the visiting youth to leverage their creativity and connections to shape the next chapter of bilateral relations.