Visiting British lawmaker Bob Stewart yesterday praised the progress of democracy in Taiwan during a meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) at the Presidential Office in Taipei.
A cross-party parliamentary delegation led by Stewart, who cochairs the British-Taiwanese All-Party Parliamentary Group, arrived in Taiwan on Sunday for a six-day visit.
The six MPs in the delegation, three from the Conservative Party and three from the Labour Party, are “really big friends of Taiwan,” Stewart said.
Photo: CNA
He praised Taiwan as a nation that is “more democratic than the UK,” citing the Democracy Index 2022 report released by the London-based Economist Intelligence Unit earlier this year, which ranked Taiwan 10th and the UK 18th.
The index showed “how far democracy has come over the last 30 years in this country,” he said, adding that Taiwan is “a beacon of how democracy can work in the world.”
The UK and Taiwan are both island states, share similar attitudes and have close economic connections, he said.
Many Taiwanese live, work and study in the UK, and he hopes to see a similar trend among Britons in the future, he said.
He thanked Tsai for meeting the group, saying that he was unable to meet with the president during his previous trip to Taiwan in 2016 as she was busy inspecting areas struck by a typhoon at the time.
Tsai thanked the delegation for their support for Taiwan, saying that the delegation’s visit could help the two forge closer ties.
The UK has since 2021 used the G7 and other bilateral or multilateral platforms to underline the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, she said.
The British parliament has been a vocal supporter of Taiwan in recent years, she added, citing discussions about Taiwanese-British friendship and cooperation in February last year and a visit by a British House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee delegation in November last year.
More than 30 British offshore wind power developers have set up offices in Taiwan, she said, adding that Taiwan and the UK complement each other in supply chain resiliency, cybersecurity, healthcare and biotechnology, creating mutually beneficial outcomes.
Tsai also expressed hope that the UK’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership would be smooth and that it would support Taiwan’s bid to join the agreement.
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