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The European Parliament’s first official delegation to Taiwan mentioned on Thursday (4 November) the diplomatically remoted island is just not alone and known as for bolder actions to strengthen EU-Taiwan ties as Taipei faces rising strain from Beijing, write Sarah Wu and Yimou Lee.
Taiwan, which doesn’t have formal diplomatic ties with any European nations besides tiny Vatican Metropolis, is eager to deepen relations with members of the European Union.
The go to comes at a time when China has ramped up army strain, together with repeated missions by Chinese language warplanes close to democratic Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its personal and has not dominated out taking by pressure. Learn extra.
“We got here right here with a quite simple, very clear message: You aren’t alone. Europe is standing with you,” Raphael Glucksmann, a French member of the European Parliament, advised Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen in a gathering broadcast stay on Fb.
“Our go to ought to be thought of as an vital first step,” mentioned Glucksmann, who’s main the delegation. “However subsequent we want a really concrete agenda of high-level conferences and high-level concrete steps collectively to construct a a lot stronger EU-Taiwan partnership.”
The three-day go to, organised by a committee of the European Parliament on overseas interference in democratic processes, will embody exchanges with Taiwanese officers on threats equivalent to disinformation and cyber assaults.
Tsai has warned of accelerating Chinese language efforts to realize affect in Taiwan, asking safety businesses to counter infiltration efforts.
“We hope to ascertain a democratic alliance in opposition to disinformation,” Tsai advised the delegation within the Presidential Workplace.
“We consider Taiwan and the EU can definitely proceed strengthening our partnership in all domains.”
Taiwanese Overseas Minister Joseph Wu made a uncommon journey to Europe final month that angered Beijing, which warned the host international locations in opposition to undermining relations with China.
Fearing retaliation from Beijing, most international locations are unwilling to host senior Taiwanese ministers or ship high-level officers to the island.
Final month, the European Parliament adopted a non-binding decision to deepen ties with Taiwan, with steps equivalent to trying into an funding settlement.
Chinese language overseas ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin condemned the assembly throughout a each day press briefing in Beijing on Wednesday.
“We urge the European aspect to right its errors and never ship any fallacious indicators to Taiwan separatist forces, in any other case it can hurt China-EU relations,” he advised reporters.
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