French Senator Alain Richard is welcome to visit Taiwan under COVID-19 quarantine measures, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, as it condemned Beijing’s attempts to pressure Richard into canceling his trip.
French newspaper La Lettre A on Monday reported that Chinese Ambassador to France Lu Shaye (盧沙野) sent Richard a letter asking him to cancel a planned parliamentary trip to Taiwan this summer.
Lu reportedly told the French senator that the trip would affect the “status quo” between Taipei and Beijing, while reasserting Beijing’s “one China” principle and that Taiwan is an “indivisible part of China.”
Photo: Reuters
“This letter is an unacceptable Chinese interference within our democratic institutions. Our senators are free to meet with whomever they see fit. It is not for Beijing, let alone an ambassador, to dictate what elected officials can or cannot do,” Antoine Bondaz, research fellow at France’s Foundation for Strategic Research, wrote on Twitter on Monday.
In Taipei yesterday, Department of European Affairs Deputy Director-General Kendra Chen (陳詠韶) said that the ministry strongly condemns Beijing for its rudeness, calling on the international community to squarely face the Chinese government’s “barbaric action” and have the moral courage to reject its inappropriate interventions.
The Chinese government has been exhausting all means to pressure Taiwan and its friends, which only incurs the ill feelings of Taiwanese toward Beijing, she said.
Beijing’s “wolf warrior” diplomacy is the main reason why the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have been heading in opposite directions over the past few years, she added.
Richard served as French minister of defense from 1997 to 2002 and is highly respected, Chen said.
Known for his steadfast support for Taiwan, Richard led delegations to Taiwan in 2015 and 2018, and he is committed to deepening ties between Taiwan and France, she said.
Mutual visits between Taiwanese and French lawmakers have been established for years, and China has no right to comment on that, she added.
The ministry extends “a warm welcome” for Richard to lead a delegation to Taiwan under COVID-19 quarantine measures, she said, without confirming the senator’s schedule.
The ministry believes that no civilized nation that respects the rule of law can accept Beijing’s “wolf warrior” diplomacy and its attempts to pressure elected representatives in other countries, Chen said.
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