European politicians vow to press on with Taiwan visits, but Brussels tries to stay out of row

Lawmakers say they still plan to visit the island despite Beijing’s warnings that foreign politicians should not follow the example of Nancy Pelosi

The EU’s reaction to heightened tensions in the Taiwan Strait has so far been muted, with Brussels reluctant to get drawn in the current US-China dispute

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Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen pictured with Raphael Glucksmann, a member of a European Parliament delegation that visited Taiwan last year. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 1:00pm, 12 Aug 2022

European parliamentarians have vowed to go ahead with planned visits to Taiwan as the EU tries to avoid getting sucked into the row between the US and China over Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island last week.

Marie-Pierre Vedrenne, a French member of the European Parliament, said plans for the trade committee to visit Taiwan in December would not be affected by the storm over the US House speaker’s visit.

“I hope to travel as scheduled – these reactions will not change our plans,” she said.

Separately, a group of German lawmakers have said they will visit in October.

This week also saw a visit by a Lithuanian delegation led by vice-minister for transport and communications Agne Vaiciukeviciute, which discussed establishing sister-city ties between the southern city of Kaohsiung and the Lithuanian port of Klaipeda, once viewed as a potential node in Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.

On Thursday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin slammed the visit for “deliberately infringing upon China’s sovereignty and grossly interfering in China’s internal affairs”.

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