The lower house of the Swiss legislature on Tuesday passed a resolution calling for closer ties with the Legislative Yuan.
The Swiss National Council voted 97-87 with eight abstentions to instruct parliamentary offices to “strengthen” relations with the Legislative Yuan to help bolster democracy, peace and stability, and deepen economic, political, scientific and cultural exchanges between Switzerland and Taiwan.
Legislators of left-leaning parties supported the measure, while those of the main right-wing and free-market parties opposed it.
Photo courtesy of the Taipei Cultural and Economic Delegation in Switzerland via CNA
The measure only relates to the lower house; the upper house — the Council of States — does not necessarily have to vote on the motion for it to take effect, the Swiss legislature’s press office said.
The resolution was forwarded to a foreign affairs committee to explore how to put it into practice. The measure has been championed by Swiss lawmaker Fabian Molina, a cochair of the Swiss-Taiwan parliamentary group who led a delegation to Taiwan in February that met with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
In a telephone interview, Molina said the vote demonstrated Swiss sovereignty.
“Switzerland has very close political relations with China — I would say sometimes too close — because it hinders us to also speak up against certain human rights violations or against certain problems,” Molina said.
However, he said the vote “does not mean that we make a complete U-turn in our relations with China.”
Swiss daily Tagesanzeiger said the passage of the resolution was an “explosive” move, as Switzerland does not have diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
The newspaper said the resolution showed the lower house’s intention to bolster ties with Taiwan on its own, instead of securing the approval of the more conservative-leaning Council of States.
Edith Graf-Litscher, a spokeswomen for Molina’s office, said it was legitimate for the lower house to seek closer ties with the Legislative Yuan, and it is in line with Swiss foreign policy principles of pursuing peace and stability.
Swiss lawmaker Nicolas Walder, the other cochair of the Swiss-Taiwan parliamentary group, said the resolution was not intended to provoke Beijing, but to show Switzerland’s support for Taiwan.
The Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in an e-mail that Switzerland is adhering to its “one China” policy, which “excludes formal diplomatic relations with the authorities in Taiwan; however, exchange on a technical level is possible and desirable.”
Liu Yuyin (劉玉印), a spokesman for China’s diplomatic mission in Geneva, Switzerland, said the “one China” principle was the “prevailing consensus” in the international community and the “foundation” of China’s diplomatic ties with other countries.
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs thanked the council, vowing to continue deepening Taiwan’s ties with Switzerland.
Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫?) expressed his “sincere gratitude” to the council, adding that it is the first parliamentary body in Europe to pass such a measure .
Additional reporting by Lu Yi-hsuan
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