Foreign
TAIWAN officials on Thursday received visits by foreign lawmakers, with all sides vowing to deepen cooperation amid growing tensions with China.
Recent visits to Taipei by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and several delegations of members of the U.S. Congress have drawn ire from Beijing.
In response to Pelosi’s visit, China staged large-scale manoeuvres around Taiwan, followed by a new round of military drills.
U.S. Representative Stephanie Murphy, who led the delegation, said at the meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen that the visit is a symbol of Congress’s rock-solid commitment to Taiwan.’’
Tsai said Taiwan would continue to work with the U.S. to forge even closer trade and economic ties.
She also addressed the threat from China in her comments.
“Taiwan will not bow to pressure or coercion. We will defend our democratic institutions and way of life,’’ Tsai said.
The delegation arrived late on Wednesday and would stay until Friday.
Other members of the delegation included Democrat Kaiali’i Kahele and Republicans Scott Franklin, Joe Wilson, Andy Barr, Darrell Issa, Claudia Tenney and Kat Cammack.
Taiwan has had an independent government since 1949, but China considers the democratic island part of its territory and opposes any form of official contact between countries and Taiwan.
“Taiwan will not back down. We will actively deepen our cooperation with democratic partners to jointly safeguard peace and stability in the region,” Tsai said.
Franklin said the U.S.-Taiwan partnership had grown in not only areas related to security but also “technology and modernisation.
“Taiwan’s production of semiconductors is critical to the global supply chain,’’ Franklin said.
Meanwhile, Taiwan Vice President Lai Ching-te received a delegation of French parliamentarians, the first such visit by representatives of a major European country since Pelosi’s trip.
According to a press release by the presidential office, Lai told French lawmakers that their arrival is particularly meaningful as the regional situation continues to be tense in the wake of China’s military drills.
Lai said the visit of French parliamentarians not only showed France’s support for democratic Taiwan.
But also delivered an important message to the international community that the unity of countries respecting democracy, freedom, and human rights would be able to stop the expansion of authoritarianism.
The cross-party delegation, led by Senator Cyril Pellevat, the vice president of the French upper chamber’s European Affairs Committee, arrived on Wednesday for a six-day official visit.
Pellevat told Lai that, France, as one of the states in the Indo-Pacific region, had paid attention closely to the situation here and shown its firm support for Taiwan’s international participation.
Pellevat said they would like to address issues related to semiconductors and express France’s support for Taiwan’s upholding shared values such as democracy and freedom.
Pellevat stressed that France highly values the stability of the Taiwan Strait and would continue to support Taiwan.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning condemned the U.S. visit, saying that the U.S. should immediately stop any official ties with the Taiwan region and send any wrong signal to Taiwan’s independent separate forces.
“We will continue to take strong measures to firmly safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity,’’ Mao said.
In Taipei, Pellevat told reporters that his delegation has not received any threat from the Chinese embassy in France, but that the visit has indeed drawn certain comments and concerns on social media. (dpa/NAN)
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Tags: Andy Barr Claudia Tenney Darrell Issa Joe Wilson Kaiali’i Kahele Kat Cammack Lai Ching-te Nancy Pelosi Scott Franklin Stephanie Murphy
