Taiwan’s Vice-President Hsiao Bi-Khim was at the European Parliament yesterday on invitation by the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China. IPAC is an international network of Parliamentarians that focuses on policy about China and is a strong advocate and defender of persecuted people in China.
In her speech at the EU Parliament, Vice-President Hsiao Bi-Khim said that Europe and Taiwan have different cultures but we have common ground in values and we are both pluralistic societies that practice open discourse. Taiwan is experiencing increasing military pressure from China including pressure via cyber-attacks and disinformation. She added that Taiwan will be increasing defence expenditure to 5% of its GDP to defend itself from these threats.
Vice-President also said that Taiwan, like Europe, is proof that democracy can thrive under pressure: Taiwan remains a fledgling democracy despite China’s military pressure she said. She concluded by appealing to nations to support Taiwan in international institutions, fight China’s disinformation and uphold the principles of the United Nations Charter to keep peace in the Taiwan strait which is also important for regional and global security.
This was the first time that the Taiwanese Vice-President addressed the European Parliament. Taiwan does not enjoy state-recognition by the EU and most EU countries.
China has condemned the visit and accused the EU of violating China’s “One China Policy” over Taiwan. China is against foreign states recognising Taiwan as a state and has openly declared its intention to annex Taiwan.
Members of the European Parliament who are members of IPAC defended such as Miriam Lexmann who said that the free world must work together to address the threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party.
You can listen to the full speech of Vice-President Hsiao Bi-Khim here.
Newsroom
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