Taipei [Taiwan], February 1 (ANI): France and Australia have pledged to deepen their ties with Taiwan. The two countries have also shown their support for Taiwan's participation in international organizations at the 2023 Foreign and Defense Ministerial Consultations in Paris, Focus Taiwan reported.

According to the Focus Taiwan report, the meeting between French Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecornu, Europe and Foreign Affairs Minister Catherine Colonna, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Defense Minister Richard Marles was the second held after a similar encounter in Australia in 2021.

The 46-point joint statement released on Monday highlighted Taiwan and the situation in the Taiwan Strait.

The meetings' participants underlined the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and also called for the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues through dialogue without the threat or use of force or coercion.

They also "reaffirmed their shared opposition to unilateral changes to the status quo in the Strait." The opposition to the use of coercive measures and "unilaterally changing" the "status quo" was a new element in this year's statement, according to Focus Taiwan.

France and Australia committed to working together to support Taiwan's meaningful participation in "the work of international organizations where statehood is not a prerequisite."According to Focus Taiwan, this differed from the 2021 joint statement, in which the participants "expressed support for Taiwan's meaningful participation in international organizations, in accordance with the organizations' statutes, to strengthen global cooperation on relevant issues."The participants in the statement reiterated their will to continue deepening relations with Taiwan in the economic, scientific, trade, technological and cultural fields.

Focus Taiwan on Tuesday reported that the United States House of Representatives introduced a Bill calling on Washington to support Taiwan's participation in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a member.

US House of Representatives Young Kim and Al Green, on Thursday, said the Taiwan Non-Discrimination Act seeks to ensure that the US Governor of the international fund advocates for Taipei and the provision of IMF technical assistance and training to the country.

The Bill also seeks to involve Taiwan's participation in the IMF's regular surveillance activities relating to the nation's economic and financial policies, job opportunities at the IMF for the nationals, and the provision of IMF technical assistance and training to Taipei, as per the report in Focus Taiwan.

"As the 21st largest economy in the world and the 10th largest goods trading partner of the United States, Taiwan deserves a seat at the IMF," Kim, who serves on the House Financial Services Committee and House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement released on January 26. (ANI)