French lawmakers arrive for five-day visit in Taiwan amid escalating tensions with China

On Wednesday, a group of six French lawmakers arrived in Taiwan for a five-day visit. It comes after China tried to hinder a similar trip led by a group of French parliamentarians in the month of October. The latest delegation is being led by François de Rugy, the chief of the Taiwan Friendship group in France's National Assembly. The delegation is expected to hold meetings with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and other senior government officials, the Associated Press (AP) reported.   

"We want to hold discussions on dimensions of the relations between Taiwan, the European Union (EU) and France on the economy and culture and all the issues at stake for our countries," de Rugy told reporters at the airport as per AP. In October, another group of French lawmakers had met Tsai, Taiwanese economic and health officials, and the Mainland Affairs Council. The visit was part of a series of annual parliamentary meetings that had been going on for years.

China attempted to get the previous visit cancelled, claiming that it would not only harm China's basic interests and impair Chinese-French relations but would also harm France's "reputation and interests." China considers Taiwan to be part of its sovereign territory and contends that the self-governing island democracy should not have official government exchanges with other nations. Taiwan, on the other hand, fought Chinese aggression by strengthening strategic connections with democracies, especially the United States, which Beijing has frequently opposed.

Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters "China firmly opposes any types of official and political contacts between Taiwan and nations with diplomatic links with China. He also called on countries to sincerely abide by the one-Chia policy. The Communist Party's mouthpiece Global Times termed the visit of the French delegation as an "insignificant stunt by trivial French politicians." Notably, China has often retaliated against European states, accusing them of coming "too close" to Taiwan or infringing on other "core interests."

Baltic lawmakers visit Taiwan

It is significant to mention here that earlier in November, lawmakers from all three Baltic states met with Taiwanese President Tsai. It was the first time that members of parliament from Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia have been to Taiwan together. President Tsai greeted the leaders who had come to attend the '2021 Open Parliament Forum.' Tsai noted that Taiwan shares values and experiences with the three countries. She also stated that Taiwan and the Baltic countries have comparable histories of defying the authoritarian government and battling for freedom.

(With inputs from AP)

Image: AP