Vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) visited the European Parliament at the invitation of lawmakers, a gesture that shows Taiwan and the EU are partners with shared values, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
On behalf of European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, European Parliament First Vice President Othmar Karas welcomed Hsiao to the legislative body, making her the first vice president-elect of Taiwan to visit the European Parliament before being sworn in, the ministry said.
The visit would help Europe better understand Taiwan’s determination to safeguard peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, as well as deepen and expand cooperation between Taiwan and the EU, it said.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Hsiao also met with Reinhard Butikofer — a German member of the European Parliament and chairman of the parliament’s Delegation for Relations with the People’s Republic of China — and European Parliament-Taiwan Friendship Group chairman Michael Gahler.
Hsiao also exchanged views on issues of mutual interest with members of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs, the ministry said.
At a welcoming reception held by the friendship group, Hsiao thanked its members for their longstanding, firm support of Taiwan, adding that she hoped the EU would continue to back the democratic nation through concrete actions.
Taiwan and European countries have been engaging in ever-closer exchanges in the past few years, the ministry said, citing the European Council’s voicing of its opposition to “any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion” for the first time in its meeting conclusions in June last year.
The EU is Taiwan’s fifth-largest trading partner and the largest source of foreign direct investment, with its member states investing a cumulative US$71.8 billion in the nation, it said.
Last year, Taiwan signed 29 cooperation agreements with European countries in fields such as agriculture, medicine, healthcare, education, culture, science and technology, it said.
That same year several Taiwanese ministers also visited EU countries, while 74 delegations of European parliamentarians and administrative officials were invited to visit Taiwan, it added.
As a responsible member of the Indo-Pacific region, Taiwan would continue to deepen cooperation with like-minded partners such as the EU and the European Parliament to safeguard global and regional security and prosperity, it said.
This story has been amended since it was first published.
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