The head of the Lithuanian parliament’s Taiwan friendship group yesterday said he and other lawmakers from Baltic states are visiting Taiwan to show their support for the country amid Chinese threats.
“We are here to express solidarity with you,” Lithuanian Member of Parliament Matas Maldeikis told President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) during a visit yesterday morning.
Maldeikis is leading a joint delegation comprising legislators from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania who are to participate in a conference on democracy later this week in Taipei.
Photo: CNA
Maldeikis said during his meeting with Tsai that the delegation members respect Taiwanese’s “perseverance and wisdom” in managing to build a successful economy and promoting democracy while balancing a “complicated geopolitical environment.”
He said that the Lithuanian government’s pro-Taiwan policy has received wide support at home because “preserving freedom and the rules-based international order is of vital interest for both Lithuania and Taiwan.”
Maldeikis said that he hopes the soon-to-be-opened Lithuanian trade office will help expand the partnership between the countries and contribute to closer relations between Taiwan and the EU.
Tsai invited the lawmakers to attend the Open Parliament Forum on Thursday and Friday, which is to discuss the promotion of democracy and open parliaments.
Their visit marks the first time lawmakers from all three Baltic states have sent a joint delegation to Taiwan, Tsai said.
“Taiwan and the Baltic nations share similar experiences of breaking free from authoritarian rule and fighting for freedom,” she said.
“The democracy we enjoy today was hard-earned. This is something we all understand most profoundly,” she added.
As the world faces challenges caused by the expansion of authoritarianism and threat of disinformation, Taiwan is willing to share its experience combating disinformation with its European friends, Tsai said.
Other members of the delegation that visited the Presidential Office yesterday included Janis Vucans and Juri Jaanson, members of parliament and chairs of Taiwan friendship groups in Latvia and Estonia respectively.
They are to join lawmakers from Belize and Mexico for the two-day forum organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Legislative Yuan and US nonprofit National Democratic Institute.
A host of experts, academics and lawmakers from countries including Argentina, Australia, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Japan, Sri Lanka, the UK and the US are to participate virtually, the ministry said.
The visit comes as Taiwan enhances exchanges with the EU and ties with the bloc’s member states, Lithuania in particular.
Earlier this month, Taiwan inaugurated its representative office in Lithuania’s capital, Vilnius, as part of a reciprocal deal the two nations reached in August, which would also see Lithuania open a representative office in Taipei early next year.
‘IRRATIONAL ACTS’: The defense ministry condemned the drills, during which China tested successors to missiles deployed during the Taiwan Strait Crisis in 1995 and 1996 China yesterday fired several Dongfeng ballistic missiles as it began four days of unprecedented military drills off Taiwan proper following US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei the previous day. On Tuesday, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) said Beijing would “take all necessary measures” in retaliation should Pelosi visit Taiwan during her Asia tour. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) from 1:56pm to 4pm fired 11 Dongfeng missiles into waters north, east and south of Taiwan proper, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Taiwanese armed forces, using “forward warning and surveillance mechanisms,” monitored the missile tests
ANNEXATION PLANS: Remarks by the Chinese ambassador to France showed that Beijing seeks to normalize genocide, re-education and gulags, a US official said European and US officials condemned comments from Chinese Ambassador to France Lu Shaye (盧沙野), after he on Wednesday said that Taiwanese would be “re-educated” after any annexation by China. In an interview on French television, Lu accused the Democratic Progressive Party of “extremist” propaganda and turning Taiwanese against “reunification” with China. “We will re-educate. I’m sure that the Taiwanese population will again become favorable of the reunification and will become patriots again,” Lu told BFM TV. The term “re-education” has been used to describe Chinese authorities’ treatment of Uighurs and other Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang. European Parliament Subcommittee on Security and Defense Chairwoman
‘SIMULATED ATTACKS’: Ten warships each from China and Taiwan were maneuvering at close quarters in the Taiwan Strait, with some Chinese vessels crossing the median line Taiwan yesterday reiterated that it would not succumb to pressure from Beijing after China carried out its most provocative military drills in decades in retaliation for US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan last week. “We will never bow to pressure. We uphold freedom and democracy, and believe Taiwanese disapprove [of] China’s bullying actions with force and saber rattling at our door,” Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said yesterday. China had “arrogantly” disrupted regional peace and stability, he said, calling on Beijing to not flex its military muscles. President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has also called on the international community to “support
‘IRRATIONAL ACTION’: China’s planned drills off Taiwan proper spurred the nation to ‘prepare for war, but we do not seek it,’ a spokesman for the defense ministry said The military is ready to counter “any actions that threaten national sovereignty,” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Major General Sun Li-fang (孫立方) said yesterday in response to China’s announcement of military drills near Taiwan. The Chinese military on Tuesday announced it would hold air and sea live-fire exercises in six locations off Taiwan proper from noon today until noon on Sunday. The drills would be in response to US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan this week, which China said breached the “one China” principle — a claim that the US has denied. The drills would be “an irrational action
RSS