While President Joe Biden and China’s leader Xi Jinping met on Nov. 15 on the sidelines of the APEC summit urging China’s cooperation on curbing illicit fentanyl production, we could not help being reminded of the imminent General Assembly of the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) scheduled for Nov. 28 to Dec. 1, to which Taiwan has not been invited due to malicious political pressure from Beijing.
The need for solid, comprehensive international police cooperation on fentanyl, human trafficking and fraud is more vital than ever, yet INTERPOL without Taiwan, which has been unable to participate in INTERPOL for more than 39 years, has indeed created a loophole in the global security and anti-terrorism network.
Nevertheless, Taiwan’s police authorities have taken the initiative of engaging with their counterparts around the world to fight crime. According to the 2023 Safety and Crime indices by internet-database website Numbeo, out of 142 countries evaluated, Taiwan ranked third for safety and had the third-lowest crime rate. Acknowledging Taiwan’s consistent efforts, for 14 consecutive years, the U.S. Department of State has ranked Taiwan as a Tier 1 country for combating human trafficking among over 180 countries and regions worldwide, with Tier 1 the best of the Department’s four ratings of governmental compliance with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA).
Taiwan’s experience can serve as a valuable reference point and Taiwan is willing to actively engage with INTERPOL. Taiwan’s participation as an observer in INTERPOL’s annual General Assembly would allow Taiwan’s police authorities to participate in various activities, meetings and training, interact with other countries and address deficiencies in the exchange of transnational crime intelligence.
Let’s include Taiwan in INTERPOL, so that Taiwan can make greater contributions to the international community. After all, international collaboration in tackling pressing global issues such as security, illicit drugs and human trafficking benefits us all.
Dennis Yen-Feng Lei, Director General
Taipei Economic and Cultural Office
Chicago
