Thu, Dec 16, 2021 page1

• French MPs arrive for five-day visit

  EXCHANGES: It is the second French parliamentary delegation to visit Taiwan in less than three months, reflecting the strong friendship betweeen Taiwan and France, the Presidential Office said

  • Staff writer, with CNA
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  A delegation of French lawmakers led by Francois de Rugy, chair of the French National Assembly’s France-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group, yesterday arrived in Taiwan for a five-day visit during which the group is to meet with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).

  The group landed at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 8:36am, where they were greeted by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光).

  Upon arrival, De Rugy told reporters that he was happy to visit Taiwan, and hoped to discuss critical economic and cultural issues with Tsai and other officials.

  

  Representative to France Francois Wu, fourth left, sees off a six-member delegation of French lawmakers — Francois de Rugy, chair of the French National Assembly’s France-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group, second left, Frederique Dumas, first left, Jean-Luc Reitzer, third left, Jean-Louis Bricout, fourth right, Jean Francois Mbaye, third right, and Aina Kuric, second right, at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport on Tuesday.

  Photo courtesy of the Taipei Representative Office in France

  “We wish to have exchanges on all dimensions of the relations between Taiwan, the EU and France on the economy and culture and all the issues at stake for our countries,” he said.

  The other members of the delegation are members of parliament Jean-Luc Reitzer, Frederique Dumas, Jean Francois Mbaye, Aina Kuric and Jean-Louis Bricout, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a news release on Tuesday.

  Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang (張惇涵) on Tuesday said that Tsai would meet with the delegation today at the Presidential Office.

  De Rugy’s visit comes less than three months after a five-member delegation from the French Senate visited Taiwan in early October, which reflected the strong friendship between Taiwan and France, as this is the first time two parliamentary delegations from the same European country had visited Taiwan within a few months, Chang said.

  The group is also to meet with Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫堃), Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) and other senior government officials.

  They are to exchange views on post-COVID-19 economic recovery, digital technology and security in the Indo-Pacific region, the ministry said.

  De Rugy, a former president of the French National Assembly, is a long-time supporter of Taiwan, and has worked to improve relations between the two nations since he became president of the France-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group in May last year, it said.

  The French National Assembly last month passed a resolution proposed by De Rugy calling on the French government to offer concrete support for Taiwan’s participation in world organizations, six months after the French Senate adopted a similar resolution, the ministry said.

  In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian (趙立堅) reiterated that “China firmly opposes any forms of official and political exchanges between Taiwan and countries having diplomatic ties with China.”

  Zhao called on countries to “earnestly abide by the one China principle.”

  In a commentary, the Chinese Communist Party tabloid Global Times called the visit “an insignificant stunt by trivial French politicians,” citing a Chinese expert.

  Additional reporting by AP
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