EU leader Ursula von der Leyen risks Beijing’s ire by lauding Taiwan’s donation of 5.6 million masks for coronavirus battle
- ‘We really appreciate this gesture of solidarity,’ the European Commission’s president says in a Twitter post
- ‘Acts like this show that we are #StrongerTogether,’ she tweets
The European Union’s top leader has praised Taiwan for donating millions of masks to help the bloc battle the coronavirus pandemic, in a highly unusual show of solidarity with the self-ruling island expected to provoke Beijing.
“The European Union thanks Taiwan for its donation of 5.6 million masks to help fight the #coronavirus. We really appreciate this gesture of solidarity,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a Twitter post on Wednesday.
“This global virus outbreak requires international solidarity & cooperation,” tweeted von der Leyen, who is four months into leading the executive arm of the 27-nation bloc. “Acts like this show that we are #StrongerTogether.”
Beijing considers Taiwan a wayward part of China to be brought back into the fold – by force, if necessary. Taiwan, currently led by an independence-leaning party, has been running its own governments since 1949.
Von der Leyen’s praise-filled tweet comes just days after US President Donald Trump signed into law the Taipei Act – an acronym for the Taiwan Allies International Protection and Enhancement Initiative – designed to bolster Taiwan’s diplomatic standing in the world.