The EU is to further its engagement with Taiwan to defend democracy, freedom and an open market, while bolstering cooperation in semiconductor supply chains, EU Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager said on Tuesday.
In her remarks at a European Parliament plenary session focused on Taiwan-EU relations, Vestager referred to China’s increasing military presence in the Taiwan Strait, including flying missions off the southwest coast of Taiwan.
“This display of force may have a direct impact on European security and prosperity,” she said, adding that the EU encourages all parties to avoid any unilateral actions that might increase tensions across the Strait.
Photo: AFP
“We Europeans — we have an interest in preserving the status quo in the Taiwan Strait ... and we will continue voicing our concerns in our contact with China and publicly, and step up coordination with like-minded partners such as the G7,” Vestager said.
The EU wishes to enhance relations and cooperation with Taiwan within the framework of its “one China” policy, while strengthening their people-to-people ties, she said.
Exchanges between the two sides have also been expanded in that past few years to include human rights, trade and economic issues, she said.
“While enhancing ties with Taiwan, the EU also has to address China’s assertiveness and attempts to intimidate Taiwan’s like-minded partners,” Vestager said.
The EU is evaluating how to better tackle challenges posed to its supply chains and consolidate its relations with partners in strategic sectors, such as semiconductors, she added.
The EU hopes that Taiwan will become an important partner to help it realize the “European chips act,” she said.
The chips act, proposed last month by the European Commission, covers research and production capacity, prompted by a chip shortage that has disrupted the auto industry, medical device makers and telecoms.
The EU relies on Asian-made chips and it has a diminished share in the supply chain, from design to manufacturing capacity.
Vestager also referred to the Lithuania-China rift that occurred after the Baltic nation pledged to bolster ties with Taiwan, saying that “Lithuania and all member states find themselves coerced for taking decisions that China finds offensive.”
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked Lithuania to withdraw its ambassador from Beijing, while recalling its envoy from Vilnius in August, after the Baltic country allowed Taiwan to establish a representative office there.
What particularly irked Beijing was Lithuania allowing the office to use the name “Taiwanese Representative Office” rather than the standard “Taipei” office, because of its implication that Taiwan is a sovereign country.
Calling for solidarity in the bloc, Vestager said the EU would “continue to push back these attempts and adopt appropriate tools, such as the anti-coercion instrument currently under preparation,” to respond to similar situations.
At Tuesday’s session in Strasburg, France, members of the European Parliament debated a report on Taiwan-EU political relations and cooperation, which was last month approved 60-4 with six abstentions by the parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee.
A parliamentary vote on the report was to take place yesterday.
Vestager welcomed the “timely report,” saying that it “conveyed a sense of urgency we need to foster our engagement to make sure that Taiwan preserves its democracy, freedom and open market.”
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs warmly welcomed Vestager’s remarks, saying that her stance represents the EU’s “unprecedentedly strong support” for Taiwan.
The ministry was glad to see Vestager voice support for the report, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said in a statement, expressing the hope that the report would be passed smoothly.
Taiwan — as a like-minded partner with the EU on democracy, freedom, human rights and the rule of law — would deepen its mutually beneficial and practical partnership with the bloc in a bid to defend peace, stability and prosperity in the Taiwan Strait, Ou said.
Additional reporting by Lin Chia-nan and Reuters
Beijing’s continued provocations in the Taiwan Strait reveal its intention to unilaterally change the “status quo” in the area, the US Department of State said on Saturday, calling for a peaceful resolution to cross-strait issues. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) reported that four China Coast Guard patrol vessels entered restricted and prohibited waters near Kinmen County on Friday and again on Saturday. A State Department spokesperson said that Washington was aware of the incidents, and urged all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from unilaterally changing the “status quo.” “Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is in line with our [the
EXTENDED RANGE: Hsiung Sheng missiles, 100 of which might be deployed by the end of the year, could reach Chinese command posts and airport runways, a source said A NT$16.9 billion (US$534.93 million) project to upgrade the military’s missile defense systems would be completed this year, allowing the deployment of at least 100 long-range Hsiung Sheng missiles and providing more deterrence against China, military sources said on Saturday. Hsiung Sheng missiles are an extended-range version of the Hsiung Feng IIE (HF-2E) surface-to-surface cruise missile, and are believed to have a range of up to 1,200km, which would allow them to hit targets well inside China. They went into mass production in 2022, the sources said. The project is part of a special budget for the Ministry of National Defense aimed at
READY TO WORK: Taiwan is eager to cooperate and is hopeful that like-minded states will continue to advocate for its inclusion in regional organizations, Lai said Maintaining the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region must be a top priority, president-elect William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after meeting with a delegation of US academics. Leaders of the G7, US President Joe Biden and other international heads of state have voiced concerns about the situation in the Strait, as stability in the region is necessary for a safe, peaceful and prosperous world, Lai said. The vice president, who is to be inaugurated in May, welcomed the delegation and thanked them for their support for Taiwan and issues concerning the Strait. The international community
COOPERATION: Two crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank off Kinmen were rescued, two were found dead and another two were still missing at press time The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) was yesterday working with Chinese rescuers to find two missing crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank southwest of Kinmen County yesterday, killing two crew. The joint operation managed to rescue two of the boat’s six crewmembers, but two were already dead when they were pulled from the water, the agency said in a statement. Rescuers are still searching for two others from the Min Long Yu 61222, a boat registered in China’s Fujian Province that capsized and sank 1.03 nautical miles (1.9km) southwest of Dongding Island (東碇), it added. CGA Director-General Chou Mei-wu (周美伍) told a