Despite a thaw in tensions across the Taiwan Strait since the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) came to power, Taiwan continues to face a policy of containment by Beijing in its efforts to promote parliamentary diplomacy, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) said on Monday.
Wang made the remarks during a speech to young diplomats at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Foreign Service Institute on the functions of parliamentary diplomacy.
Saying that China has continued its merciless suppression of Taiwan on the diplomatic front, Wang said parliamentary diplomacy could be very useful in forging friendships and substantive relationships with countries that do not recognize Taiwan diplomatically.
Wang said he had met many senior European officials and influential political figures when he led a group of lawmakers on a visit the European Parliament, Italy, Belgium and the Holy See last month.
“At the time, our country’s representative to the EU, Shen Lyu-shun (沈呂巡), told me he could not have met so many senior European officials without such a visit by the delegation,” Wang said.
While in Rome, Wang said the delegation managed to meet the speakers of the two chambers of the Italian parliament.
“This could be attributed to our hospitable reception of three Italian parliamentarians during their visit [to Taiwan] last autumn,” he said.
Regrettably, Taiwan’s achievements in parliamentary diplomacy in recent years have alarmed China and prompted it to intensify its efforts to contain Taiwan on that front, Wang said.
Among others, Wang said Taiwan had suffered a setback in its bid to join the Parliamentary Confederation of the Americas as a permanent observer earlier this year. Both Taiwan and China filed applications late last year. In a vote on Jan. 24, China received enough ballots to secure observer status, but Taiwan did not.
On the prospects of parliamentary diplomacy, Wang said both the economic downturn and the ideological conflict between Taiwan’s two major political camps could undermine the effort.
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