Members of the European Parliament on Tuesday expressed support for Taiwan and highlighted the importance of establishing a partnership between Taiwan and the EU.
At a seminar titled “Why Taiwan Matters” held at the European Parliament, European Parliament-Taiwan Friendship Group chairman Werner Langen said the group is staunchly supportive of Taiwan, saying that Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) speech on Taiwan in January underlined the increasing importance of forging a partnership between the EU and Taiwan.
He also stressed EU support for peace and called on the two sides of the Taiwan Strait to maintain constructive dialogue, adding that after the European Parliament elections in May, the Taiwan Friendship Group would continue to push for greater support of Taipei.
Photo courtesy of the Presidential Office
Meanwhile, Taiwanese experts in international relations called on the EU to increase active cooperation with Taiwan on the basis of the shared core values of democracy and freedom.
Prospect Foundation president Lai I-chung (賴怡忠) said that Taiwan’s success is evidence that democracy can be implemented in Asia and given the EU’s core values of democracy and freedom, cooperation between Taiwan and EU should be enhanced.
In contrast to China, which is becoming increasingly authoritarian, Taiwan’s diverse democracy guarantees human rights, Lai said, adding that given the standoff between democratic Taiwan and authoritarian China, Taiwan’s existence is of great importance to the international community.
Also at the seminar, Global Taiwan Institute executive director Russell Hsiao (蕭良其) highlighted the US’ long-standing support for Taiwan, citing as an example the December 2016 telephone call between then-US president-elect Donald Trump and President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
In addition, in a speech to the Hudson Institute in Washington in October last year, US Vice President Mike Pence condemned China for luring away three of Taiwan’s Latin American allies, describing such actions as threatening stability in the Taiwan Strait.
Pence lauded Taiwan’s democracy, saying: “America will always believe that Taiwan’s embrace of democracy shows a better path for all the Chinese people,” Hsiao said.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also praised Taiwan as a democratic success story in a statement read at the 19th Micronesian Presidents Summit last month, Hsiao added.
The Brussels seminar was hosted by European Parliament-Taiwan Friendship Group deputy chairman Andrey Kovatchev and attended by nine other European Parliament members, dozens of parliamentary assistants and others with an interest in cross-strait issues.
Tropical Storm Gaemi strengthened into a typhoon at 2pm yesterday, and could make landfall in Yilan County tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The agency was scheduled to issue a sea warning at 11:30pm yesterday, and could issue a land warning later today. Gaemi was moving north-northwest at 4kph, carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of up to 118.8kph and gusts of 154.8kph. The circumference is forecast to reach eastern Taiwan tomorrow morning, with the center making landfall in Yilan County later that night before departing from the north coast, CWA weather forecaster Kuan Shin-ping (官欣平) said yesterday. Uncertainty remains and
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DISRUPTIONS: The high-speed rail is to operate as normal, while several airlines either canceled flights or announced early departures or late arrivals Schools and offices in 15 cities and counties are to be closed today due to Typhoon Gaemi, local governments announced last night. The 15 are: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Tainan, Keelung, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hualien, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang counties. People should brace for torrential rainfall brought by the storm, with its center forecast to make landfall on the east coast between tonight and tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The agency issued a sea warning for the typhoon at 11:30pm on Monday, followed by a land warning at 11:30am yesterday. As of
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