French lawmakers are to visit Taiwan for a third time in 10 months when a group of five senators arrives today on a six-day trip, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday.
The delegation, led by Joel Guerriau, vice chairman of the French Senate’s Taiwan Friendship Group and vice chairman of the French Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and the Armed Forces, is to meet with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and other top officials during its stay, the ministry said in a news release.
The other members of the delegation are senators Vincent Eble, Sylvie Goy-Chavent, Dany Wattebled and Ludovic Haye, the ministry said.
Photo: Screen grab from Twitter
The French lawmakers are to exchange views with Taiwanese officials on international and regional security issues, technology innovation and industry supply chains, the ministry said.
This is to be Guerriau’s second trip to Taiwan after a visit in 2018, according to the ministry, which said that the Taiwan-friendly senator has initiated pro-Taiwan bills in the French Senate.
One bill cosponsored by Guerriau, a resolution adopted by the Senate in May last year backing Taiwan’s international participation, was the first pro-Taiwan bill passed by the French legislative body.
His delegation’s visit follows trips by two other French parliamentarian groups in the past year.
Alain Richard — head of the French Senate’s Taiwan Friendship Group and a former French minister of defense from 1997 to 2002 — and other lawmakers visited Taiwan in October last year, and a six-member French National Assembly delegation came to Taiwan in December last year.
The frequent visits by representatives from both chambers of the French parliament demonstrate the friendly bonds between Taiwan and France, the ministry added.
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