President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) touted the need for a bilateral investment agreement (BIA) between Taiwan and the European Union during a meeting with members of a European Parliament delegation yesterday in Taipei.
Tsai made the comments while receiving the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) led by Estonian MEP Urmas Paet. She said that such a deal would “strengthen our partnership” and consolidate the unity of democracies, without elaborating.
She also expressed hope that Taiwan and the EU will continue to deepen cooperation in the fields of supply chain resiliency, investment, cybersecurity and technological innovation, as the world faces the challenge of expanding authoritarianism and the restructuring of global supply chains.
Photo: CNA
Paet, the vice chair of European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET), expressed similar views and said it was “absolutely necessary that democracies stick together and deepen [their] cooperation.”
While Paet did not immediately comment on Tsai’s calls for a BIA, he told reporters later the same day that the EU is a “complicated” organization and it is not easy for its 27 member-states to reach consensus on the issue.
While it would be “good” if the two sides could reach a deal, Paet said, the strong trade and investment ties currently enjoyed between Taiwan and the EU show that “the absence of an agreement is not so big [an] obstacle.”
At the same time, Paet said he looks forward to seeing more bilateral cooperation on security, mentioning that the two sides could share best practices in countering cyberattacks.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has shown that authoritarian regimes support each other in their aggression, he said, adding that cooperation between democracies were thus needed to “balance this negative influence.”
Paet and his delegation arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday for a visit from July 25-27, after first stopping in Japan.
The 15-member delegation includes seven other MEPs, namely Reinhard Butikofer, Michael Gahler, Tonino Picula, Nathalie Loiseau, Dominik Tarczy?ski, Jakop G. Dalunde and Susanna Ceccardi.
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