Premier Yu Shyi-kun yesterday told a European delegation that the government hopes to strengthen Taiwan's friendship with EU nations.
"Europe is the place of origin of freedom, democracy and human rights and members of the European Union are indispensable partners of Taiwan during the course of development of democracy and freedom," Yu told members of the European Parliament's Taiwan Friendship Group during a 20-minute closed-door meeting at the Executive Yuan yesterday afternoon.
The seven-person group is on a one-week visit to Taiwan that will wrap-up on Friday.
According to a Cabinet press release issued yesterday, during the meeting Yu expressed the government's appreciation of the legislature's recent friendly gestures.
"On behalf of the ROC government, I'd like to express our most sincere gratitude to your stout support for our continuous bid to join the World Health Organization and other causes," Yu said.
On Sept. 5, the parliament adopted a non-binding resolution in which it called on China to withdraw its missiles from the coastal provinces across the Taiwan Strait.
The resolution also states that visits to Europe by Taiwan's high-level government officials should not be strictly limited to those traveling in a private capacity.
Taiwan's participation in the WHO also won support from the legislators.
In response, the Legislative Yuan unanimously passed a resolution last Tuesday urging China to remove its missiles across the Taiwan Strait and to resume cross-strait dialogue in order to seek a peaceful resolution to its differences with Taipei.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Taiwan Junior Chamber jointly launched the "one letter per person" drive to mobilize people to participate in the campaign against China's deployment of hundreds of missiles along its southeastern coast against Taiwan.
Georg Jarzembowski, president of the European delegation, yesterday expressed his concern over the direct transportation links during the group's meeting with Yu.
In response, the premier said that Taiwan is ready to sit down and talk with China about the issue.
"As the opening of direct links is one of our cross-strait policies, we're ready to sit down and talk about it under the principle of dignity and parity," Yu said.
Asked about the government's stance on North Korea's nuclear weapons program, Yu told the group that the government's position is clear.
"We'd like to see a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula because the [North's] program will threaten not only the security of South Korea, Japan and the Philippines but also that of Taiwan," Yu said.
When asked to comment on the interaction between the executive and legislative branches, Yu said that it has been good.
"As the DPP is a party dedicated to reforms and the pursuit of political ideals, we'll continue to push for reforms no matter whether we're in power or in opposition," Yu said.
The delegation also visited PFP Chairman James Soong (
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