The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) has issued a statement expressing their concern regarding Uganda’s unreasonable demands and obstruction of Taiwanese passport holders, which they say is linked to China’s political demands. The Foreign Ministry on Tuesday thanked IPAC for speaking up for Taiwan.

Last Wednesday, immigration officials at a Ugandan airport reportedly withheld the passports of three Taiwanese nationals upon entry and demanded that they present their Chinese passports in keeping with Uganda’s “one China policy.” In response, IPAC issued a statement emphasizing that the action is clearly coercive discriminatory conduct. 

It said the country’s arbitrary refusal of valid Taiwanese passports, and its insistence that travelers present documents issued by an authority with no jurisdiction over them, violates the fundamental principle of non-discrimination set out in international civil aviation standards, including International Civil Aviation Organization guidelines.

The Foreign Ministry thanked IPAC and other like-minded partners for taking concrete action to speak up for Taiwan. Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), director general of the Foreign Ministry's Department of European Affairs, said: “We call on the Ugandan government to face up to the international reality that the sovereignty and independence of the Republic of China and the fact that it is not subordinate to the People's Republic of China, and not to impose inappropriate entry restrictions for political reasons that affect normal bilateral exchanges and interests.”

Separately, media reports said event staff at the World Choir Games in Sweden restricted local supporters from displaying the Taiwan flag and interfered with press coverage during the Kaohsiung Nibun Chorus’ performance. Huang said the ministry is looking into the incident and has pressed organizers to respect free expression and press freedom. The ministry reaffirmed its support for Taiwanese arts groups expanding international exchange and visibility.