EU lawmaker opens Taiwan visit with vow to ‘stand firm’ with Taipei
- European Parliament vice-president Nicola Beer cites Ukraine and Hong Kong as she arrives on first ‘official’ visit to the island
- Beer also calls Taiwan and Europe part of a ‘family of democracies’
Nicola Beer, one of the European Parliament’s vice-presidents, is making what the Taiwanese foreign ministry described as “the first official visit” by an MEP of her rank.
She told reporters upon arriving that “now is the moment to stand firm on the side of Taiwan”, calling Europe and the island part of a “family of democracies”.
“Taiwan’s bloom is also Europe’s bloom. We won’t have a blind eye on China’s threats to Taiwan. Europe was late for Hong Kong, we won’t be late for Taiwan,” she said, referring to Beijing’s recent dismantling of Hong Kong’s democracy movement.
“There is no room for Chinese aggression in democratic Taiwan. For the moment, we witness war in Europe; we do not want to witness war in Asia.”
Taiwan’s 23 million people live under the constant threat of invasion by mainland China, which claims the self-ruled island and has vowed to one day seize it.