Taiwan would be a perfect partner for the EU as the bloc considers building a hub to combat disinformation campaigns by authoritarian regimes, the head of a visiting European Parliament delegation said yesterday ahead of their return to Brussels.
“We can benefit a lot as Europeans from a closer cooperation with Taiwan in the fight against disinformation,” EU lawmaker Raphael Glucksmann told a news conference at the conclusion of the three-day trip to Taiwan.
The EU is considering building a hub to combat disinformation, and the whole delegation agreed that “it should be Taiwan,” he said.
Photo: CNA
“That actually makes a lot of sense, the partnership should grow and get deeper and deeper,” he added.
The delegation — comprising members of the parliament’s Special Committee on Foreign Interference in all Democratic Processes in the European Union, including Disinformation — was in Taiwan to learn how the nation has built a strong democracy while facing threats from China, he said.
Like Taiwan, Europe is facing large-scale actions orchestrated by an authoritarian regime to weaken its democracy, Glucksmann said.
Seeing Taiwan’s successful example, the “idea of the whole society being involved in this fight is crucial for us,” he said.
Asked if the first-ever trip by an official European Parliament delegation to Taiwan could exacerbate tensions across the Taiwan Strait, Glucksmann said he believes that the visit would have the opposite effect.
“We are really convinced that the more you have interaction between the international community and Taiwan, the less dangerous the situation would be in the Strait,” he said.
A trip to Taiwan or a high-level meeting with Taiwanese officials should be considered normal, instead of a provocation that adds fuel to the fire, he added.
Glucksmann said he and the other group members are not afraid of possible Chinese sanctions in response to the visit.
EU lawmaker Petras Austrevicius, a delegation member from Lithuania, said that in the wake of Hong Kong’s return to China in 1997, the world turned a blind eye to Beijing’s actions, which emboldened the Chinese leadership.
Hong Kong’s example shows that an authoritarian government is capable of committing many crimes against humanity, Austrevicius said.
“We cannot afford to be naive any longer,” he said.
Earlier yesterday, Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫堃) met with the delegation at the legislature.
The EU lawmakers had gained insights into Taiwan’s democracy and felt at home here, Glucksmann told You, adding that despite the distance between Taiwan and Europe, Taiwanese have the same concept of democracy and liberty.
The delegation hopes to lay the foundation for warmer ties between Taiwan and Europe, he said, urging more cooperation between the two sides.
You said it was a “warm gesture” that the delegation visited despite the COVID-19 pandemic and Chinese protests.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique