EU Parliamentarians say they want to learn from Taiwan how to counter threats from Beijing
- The EU delegation met President Tsai Ing-wen on Thursday, telling her ‘you are not alone. Europe is standing with you’
- Beijing has condemned the visit for breaching the one-China policy and warned the visitors not to encourage separatist forces on the island
Defying warnings of retaliation from Beijing, Raphael Glucksmann, the head of the European Parliament’s special committee on foreign interference, led a 13-member delegation, including six other lawmakers, to Taiwan for a three-day visit that began on Wednesday.
“We came here to learn from you, to learn from your capacity for building such a vibrant democracy while being confronted with such a level of threats and interference,” said Glucksmann, a vocal critic of China, who had been barred by Beijing from visiting the mainland.
Glucksmann said Europe is also facing “large-scale actions orchestrated by an authoritarian regime to vandalise European society and weaken its democracy”.
“Your success in building your democracy while being confronted with such threats is good advice for us,” Glucksmann said, adding the delegation could learn from Taiwan’s experience in dealing with this kind of threat and see what tactics can be applied at home.
Taiwan is under growing pressure from Beijing, which views the island as its territory and has not ruled out taking it by force. Tensions have soared as Beijing has stepped up military operations around the island and it is also accused of engaging in disinformation and cyberattacks, including on government agencies.