A delegation of cross-party parliamentarians belonging to the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) have called on their governments to strengthen economic and political engagement with Taiwan in the face of increasing threats from the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
The delegation, comprising legislators representing 8 European legislatures, addressed the press after a meeting with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-Wen, in which the President noted the significance of the visit and thanked IPAC for its Washington D.C. Summit communique – in which IPAC set out calls for democratic countries to set out a clear strategy to deter the PRC government from taking coercive action against Taiwan. Later, IPAC Co-Chair Reinhard Buetikofer MEP was awarded with the Grand Medal of Diplomacy, presented by Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, for his work in promoting EU-Taiwan relations.
Speaking at the press conference, Els Van Hoof MP said:
“Taiwan’s safety — and the safety of all our democracies — grows with stronger partnerships. We will push to increase the number of inter-parliamentary visits between Taiwan and our legislatures, to aid mutual understanding and cooperation.”
“IPAC is also committed to work towards appropriate military and defence cooperation between our countries and Taiwan, together with our pushing for Taiwan’s greater involvement in international institutions, and for increased bilateral trade.”
“We are in Taiwan to express solidarity, yes. But our network exists to bring about concrete change, so we would like to take this opportunity to say publicly that IPAC will be doing all we can to strengthen the positions of our own countries towards Taiwan. We hope that this will help safeguard Taiwan’s place on the international stage, and make the prospect of conflict more remote.”
Notes:
- A full list of parliamentarians participating in the delegation is included below.
- The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) is a cross-party network of legislators working to reform the approach of democratic countries towards China. For a full list of members and further information, please visit ipac.global.
- The Communique from the IPAC Washington D.C. Summit can be found on the IPAC website:https://ipac.global/ipac-dc-summit-communique-campaigning-blueprint-to-confront-beijing/
Delegation list:
- Reinhard Buetikofer MEP, Germany
- Sjoerd Sjoerdsma MP, Netherlands
- Avdullah Hoti MP, Kosovo
- Judith Cummins MP, UK
- Gyde Jensen MP, Germany
- Eva Decroix MP, Czechia
- Mykola Kniazhytskyi MP, Ukraine
- Els Van Hoof MP, Belgium
