The government yesterday sent a congratulatory message to French President Emmanuel Macron on his re-election to a second term, and expressed a desire for deeper bilateral relations.
The message was conveyed to Macron, his government and people via the Taiwan representative office in Paris, after the official results of the French presidential runoff election on Sunday were announced, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Taiwan is ready to deepen its cooperation with the French government to safeguard stability in the Indo-Pacific region and across the Taiwan Strait, and contribute to rules-based international democratic order, the ministry said.
Photo: Reuters
Macron on Sunday became the first French president in 20 years to win a second term, gaining 58.55 percent of the vote, while challenger Marine Le Pen received 41.45 percent.
Taipei and Paris have enjoyed cordial relations under the shared universal values of democracy and human rights, the ministry said.
Taiwan opened a second French representative office in Aix-en-Provence.
The French government in its Indo-Pacific strategy report this year said that the EU would “continue to develop its already close trade and investment relations with its key partners in global value chains, such as Taiwan.”
The upper and lower houses of the French Parliament last year passed several Taiwan-friendly resolutions and sent delegations to visit Taiwan, the ministry said.
Taiwan Representative to France Francois Wu (吳志中) has been invited several times to attend parliamentary hearings in Paris, it said.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
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