Taiwan which does not have formal
diplomatic ties with any european
nations except tiny Catican City is keen
to deepen relations with members of the
european union. The visit comes at a time when china has
ramped up military pressure including
repeated missions by chinese warplanes
near democratic taiwan which beijing
claims as its own and has not ruled out
taking by force. We came here with a very simple, very
clear message, you are not alone
europe is standing with you.
Rafael Glucksman a french member of the
european parliament told taiwan
president Cyenwen in a meeting broadcast
live on facebook, our visit should be considered as an
important first step. Said Glucksman, who
is leading the delegation? but next we need a very concrete agenda
of high-level meetings and high-level
concrete steps together to build a much
stronger EU taiwan partnership.
The three-day visit organized by a
committee of the european parliament on
foreign interference in democratic
processes will include exchanges with
taiwanese officials on threats such as
disinformation and cyber attacks.
Tsai has warned of increasing chinese
efforts to gain influence in taiwan
asking security agencies to counter
infiltration efforts. Fearing retaliation from beijing most
countries are unwilling to host senior
taiwanese ministers or send high-level
officials to the island.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson
wong wenbin condemned the meeting during
a daily press briefing in beijing on
wednesday, we urge the european side to correct its
mistakes and not send any wrong signals
to taiwan's separatist forces otherwise
it will harm china-eu relations, he told
reporters.
