French businesses should be more aware of the risks linked to tensions around Taiwan that could damage their interests, Representative to France Francois Wu (吳志中) said, urging firms to promote more collaboration with Taipei.
“If you look at the example of Russia and the Ukraine war, having important interests in Russia doesn’t mean that you can split the two and abandon Ukraine to protect interests in Russia,” Wu said in an interview on Friday.
“If there were to be a war, their interests in China would be threatened,” he said.
Photo: CNA
Escalating tensions between the US and China are putting European countries in a delicate position between the two superpowers as they seek to retain economic relations with Beijing.
“Half of the world’s containers go through the Taiwan Strait. These would be at risk. So businesses have an interest to help everyone maintain peace,” Wu said.
During a separate interview on Bloomberg Television, Wu also pushed for boosting Taiwan’s cooperation on the production of semiconductors, not just with France.
“We need Air Liquide from France, BASF from Germany, chemical production from Japan for the precision of the production of semiconductors,” he said. “So France is already playing a role. I do believe we can reinforce our cooperation, not only between Taiwan and France, but with Europe and all democratic countries.”
Taiwan makes 90 percent of the world’s advanced semiconductors, which power everything from smartphones to artificial intelligence chatbots, while also trying to attract the military and diplomatic support needed to deter an invasion.
Wu said he receives many e-mails from French lawmakers seeking opportunities, adding that bolstering ties on semiconductors between France and Taiwan is a “very important” part of his job.
Earlier this month, Chinese Ambassador to France Lu Shaye (盧沙野) triggered furious reactions in Europe after he questioned the sovereignty of ex-Soviet states, including Ukraine. France joined the chorus of nations that condemned the remarks, and Beijing distanced itself from the comments.
Wu said the remarks reflected China’s outlook.
“China is trying to use an old concept to try and change the world order. So the declaration of ambassador Lu Shaye just reflects” how “they see the world,” he said.
“It’s putting us in a very difficult problem, without the intention, they just make the problem of Taiwan the same problem with other ex-Soviet countries,” Wu said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) telephone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Wednesday diverted attention from the uproar.
However, Lu’s statements undermined Xi’s quest to portray China as a neutral broker — particularly given his tight relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. During a trip to China earlier this month, French President Emmanuel Macron urged Xi to make the call.
Macron also said that Europe should make its own decisions regarding Taiwan rather than follow the US or China.
The backlash that followed Macron’s statement pushed France and European allies to reaffirm their position on Taiwan, Wu said.
“I’m happy — perhaps not satisfied as things can always get better, but happy” with Europe’s and France’s reaction, he added.
Eric Bothorel, the head of a delegation of French lawmakers who recently traveled to Taiwan to reassure its authorities, said he wants more economic cooperation with Taiwan.
Taipei and Paris recently signed a deal to develop drones for Taiwan, Wu said.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
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