Taiwanese politicians should set aside their differences and agree on a united foreign affairs policy in order to safeguard the nation's diplomatic future, the chairman of the Taiwan Friendship Group at the European Parliament said yesterday.
Georg Jarzembowski, who is on his 11th visit to Taiwan, said after the "gun smoke" of the election has cleared, both the pan-blues and pan-greens should come together to formulate and define a "broadly based" foreign policy in an effort to gain the support of the nation's "powerhouse" friends, such as the US, Japan and the EU.
Jarzembowksi said the most important task for his group is to talk to the various parties to get their impression as to whether their opponents were cheating.
"We don't have any mistrust of the parties," he said.
His team are scheduled to visit two polling stations and the Central Election Commission today to monitor the vote-counting process.
EU OPPOSITION
When asked about the EU's opposition to the planned referendums on Taiwan's bid to join the UN, Jarzembowksi said he was aware of the two versions proposed by the Democratic Progressive Party and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and he believed it was the right of the Taiwanese to determine how they wanted to be represented.
He said his group has initiated a motion at the European Parliament to support Taiwan's execution of the referendums. So far, over 100 parlimentarians have added their signatures to the motion, he said.
Jazermbowski also said the existing cross-strait tension is unlikely to be assuaged unless there is fresh dialogue between to the two governments.
He admitted, however, it would take much "patience" and time before a dialogue based on an equal footing would become a reality.
HONOR
Earlier yesterday, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) conferred an Order of Brilliant Star with Grand Cordon on Jarzembowski to honor him for his contribution in enhancing the friendship between the European Parliament and Taiwan.
Chen expressed appreciation and gratitude to the European Parliament for its support in opposing the lifting of its embargo on arms to China, backing the nation's bid to join the WHO and in urging China to remove its missiles targeting Taiwan.
"I believe the reason the European Parliament has been very supportive of Taiwan is that Taiwanese share the same universal values as the Europeans, which are democracy, freedom and human rights," Chen said.
Jarzembowski said he sincerely appreciated the award because he has been urging the international community to recognize the sovereignty of Taiwan and has worked to improve relations between the European Parliament and Taiwan since he took up the position as head of the Taiwan Friendship Group of the European Parliament in 1999.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SHIH HSIU-CHUAN
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