On June 18, Ambassador Harry Tseng of the Taipei Representative Office in the EU and Belgium and Chair of European Parliament-Taiwan Friendship Group Werner Langen co-hosted a farewell and welcome reception at the European Parliament. Nearly 100 people including 41 Members of European Parliament (MEPs) participated in the event.
At the reception, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Jaushieh Wu, through a video presentation, expressed his gratitude to the MEPs for their support of Taiwan over the years, and voiced optimism for further cooperation to advance EU-Taiwan relations.
“Faced with pressure from China, Taiwan is sparing no effort in consolidating relationships with allies and people with substantive relationships with my country,” Wu said. “If Taiwan can’t defend its hard-won democracy, it would be a tremendous tragedy not only for Taiwan, but also for the development of democracy worldwide,” he said, adding that the EU is a crucial source of support for Taiwan in the fight to consolidate democracy.
Ambassador Tseng mentioned, the protests in Hong Kong against the draft extradition bill demonstrates “one country, two systems” is not feasible. He stated, “the deteriorating human rights situation in China, as well as the lack of due process in its judicial system, worried not only the Hong Kong people, but also the international community.”
Werner Langen announced that MEP Michael Gahler will be the new chair of the EP-Taiwan Friendship Group, and voiced hope that the European Parliament would continue to show their staunch support for deepening Taiwan-EU relations.
