Taiwan welcomes French Senate delegation ‘despite threats’ from Beijing

Taiwan’s presidential office said that during the meeting, Tsai would award Richard a medal to “honour his support for Taiwan and his contributions to the development of Taiwan-France relations”.

Before leaving for Taiwan, Olivier Cadic, vice-president of the French Senate’s foreign affairs committee, said it was essential to strengthen exchanges between Taiwan and France.

Other members of the delegation include the friendship group’s vice-president Max Brisson, Else Joseph and secretary Judith Bout. They will also meet Premier Su Tseng-chang, legislature speaker You si-kun and other senior Taiwanese officials.

They will attend the Yushan Forum on Friday – an Asian regional dialogue initiated by Taiwan intended to expand opportunities for cooperation and boost the exchange of ideas, talent, technology and social initiatives.

Taiwan’s foreign ministry welcomed the group’s visit and thanked the French visitors “for their determination to bring this trip to fruition, despite the threats from [Beijing]”.

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“We are confident that ties will go from strength to strength as a result of their visit,” the ministry said.

The trip is certain to irk Beijing, which claims the self-governed island as part of its territory and has warned Richard not to engage in official exchanges with Taipei, fearing politicians from other European countries could follow suit.

In an interview with Taiwan’s semi-official Central News Agency in March, Richard said the main purpose of his planned visit to Taiwan was to see how it had handled the Covid-19 pandemic and its economic progress. He said they would also discuss France and Taiwan’s regional and global strategy.

That month, soon after Richard revealed his plan to visit Taiwan, Beijing envoy Lu Shaye sent a letter to the senator expressing “serious concern” about the trip and asking him not to engage in any official exchanges with the Taiwanese authorities.

Lu said the visit would result in “unnecessary interference” in relations between Beijing and Taipei and that Richard should abide by the one-China principle.

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The Chinese foreign ministry and Taiwan Affairs Office in Beijing protested against the planned visit, concerned it would lead to more European support for the island

Since Friday, Beijing has sent 150 warplanes into Taiwan’s air defence zone to ramp up pressure on the island.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Group of French senators arrives in Taipei despite mainland protests