Johan Pehrson, Chairman of the parliament justice committee, and Axel Darvik, Mia Franzen, Karin Granbom, Anna Gronlund-Krantz, Tobias Gronlund-Krantz, Torkild Strandberg, Cecilia Wigstrom, members of parliament
Swedish Liberal Party
As Liberal Party parliamentarians from Sweden visiting Taiwan, we are learning that there are worries here that some European political leaders are more interested in selling weapons to China than in supporting democracy in Taiwan. We would like to assure the Taiwanese people that there are European politicians sympathetic to their situation and vehemently opposed to any loosening up of the EU embargo banning weapons exports to China.
It is no secret that the French government, one of the most influential in the EU, has not only been pushing to abolish the arms embargo, but has held joint fleet exercises with the Chinese in the Pacific. We recognize that it is in every nation's interest to enjoy good relations with China, but the attitude taken by the French government on this issue exposes a lack of understanding of the perils and threats posed by a huge authoritarian state armed with modern weapons. These weapons can and will be used to threaten, pacify and oppress the Chinese and Taiwanese people. The misjudgement by some European politicians of the dangers of emboldening Chinese expansionism must be resisted.
Therefore, our party regularly brings up the Taiwan issue for debate and pressures the Swedish government to protest Chinese hardline policies. Additionally, liberals in the European parliament constantly oppose the policies, from either left or right, to unnecessarily bow to Chinese pressure.
The Swedish parliament has a Taiwan friendship association numbering 20 percent of all legislators, with members from the government coalition, including the long-ruling social democrats. Members of the association take notice of and bring into the public arena any Swedish government action which is excessively accommodating to China's expansionism or fails to constructively push to expand Taiwan's international space and participation.
It is a historical fact that democracies have never waged war against other democracies. We believe that a democratization of China will definitely secure peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. Democracies thus need to pursue a responsible policy of a good, stable and growing political and economic relationship with China to facilitate that nation's transition to democracy.
Taiwan's success is a natural model for the rest of Asia to emulate in both politics and economics. Taiwan has our admiration for its stubborn perseverance in liberty and democracy and we will continue to push for Taiwan's legitimate interests internationally whenever we can.
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