Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) on Sunday said he had met with UK House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle during his visit to Britain, marking the first meeting between a Taiwanese legislative speaker and the speaker of the lower house of parliament.
Speaking to reporters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Han said the cross-party delegation’s visit to the UK and France from May 9 to Sunday was “highly fruitful,” yielding major advancements in speaker-to-speaker dialogues, lawmaker exchanges and strategic think tank engagements.
The delegation met directly with senior parliamentary figures in both countries, including the president of the French Senate and Hoyle, Han said, adding that some meetings with “sensitive figures” were kept private at the request of those involved.
Photo: CNA
The Legislative Yuan is a unicameral legislature, while the British Parliament consists of the elected House of Commons and the appointed members of the House of Lords.
Former legislative speaker Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) met with Hoyle during a visit to Britain in 2018, who was the deputy speaker of the House of Commons at that time. During that visit, Su also met with the speaker of the House of Lords.
On Sunday, Representative to the UK Vincent Yao (姚金祥) said that the meeting between Hoyle and Han was especially significant because it took place immediately after the State Opening of Parliament on Wednesday last week, when UK lawmakers were occupied with debates over the king’s address.
During the trip to the UK and France, the Taiwanese delegation met with lawmakers from pro-Taiwan groups in both countries, several of whom pledged to visit Taiwan soon, some as soon as later this month, Han said.
Among the British lawmakers involved in the exchanges was Sarah Champion, cochair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Taiwan and chair of the House of Commons International Development Committee.
At a welcome banquet on Thursday, Champion said she planned to lead a British delegation to Taiwan in autumn, adding that democracies need to stand closer together amid the global challenges.
The Taiwanese delegation exchanged views with think tanks on issues such as Taiwan’s arms procurement, and the possible implications for Taiwan and Northeast Asia from any future meetings between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), Han said.
The 20-member delegation included lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party and the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party.
The lawmakers met with Taiwanese businesspeople and expatriate groups in the UK and France, and attended the annual meeting of the European Chambers of Commerce Taiwan.
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