The Legislative Yuan

Press Release

April 18, 2023

President You meets and hosts a luncheon in honor of the delegation led by Chairman Eric Bothorel of France-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group in the French National Assembly

You Si-kun: maintaining peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait is in line with the interests of France and Europe. 

Accompanied by Vice President Tsai Chi-chang, Legislators Huang Shih-chieh, Wu I-ding, Jang Chyi-Lu, Deputy Secretary General Kao, Ming-Chiu, Consultant Chou Ya-shu, Secretariat Director Kung Ping-chieh, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Roy Chun Lee, President You met and hosted a luncheon in honor of Chairman Eric Bothorel of France-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group in the French National Assembly, Deputy Chairman Mireille Clapot, Chairman Michel Herbillon, French lawmaker Constance Le Grip, French Office in Taipei Director Jean-François Casabinne-Masonnave, Deputy Director Cléa Le Cardeur at 11:30 on April 18.

On behalf of the Legislative Yuan, President You extended a warm welcome to the visiting delegation. He stated that when he visited France at the end of July, he was grateful for the high-level hospitality accorded to him. Therefore, he was very delighted to see Chairman Eric Bothorel again.

President You thanked Chairman Eric Bothorel for openly supporting Taiwan on various occasions, including participating 2021 Open Parliament Forum online, initiating a National Assembly joint letter to support Taiwan’s international participation, and his twitter post to “continue to be with Taiwan”. After French President Macron visited China, he stated that Europe should not become a “vassal” and must avoid being drawn into any conflict between the US and China over Taiwan, Chairman Eric Bothorel took the lead to state that “A Taiwan contingency would affect Europe and the entire world”. His firm defense of French founding spirit of “liberty, equality and fraternity” touched countless of people at home and abroad. French Macron then changed his tone to support the status quo of Taiwan Strait and its peace and stability. President You quoted what US Secretary of State Blinken stated when he visited Canada in October last year, “If there were to be a crisis over Taiwan, you’ve got about 50 percent of the global commercial container traffic that goes through the Taiwan Strait every day. Half of the world’s trade, in effect, goes through there every day. You got about 70 percent of high-end semiconductors that are produced on Taiwan. If either of those things were taken offline as a result of a crisis, it could have devastating consequences for the global economy.” Therefore, it is very important to safeguard Taiwan Strait security. He explicitly pointed out that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is in line with the interests of French and European countries. It is also the moral responsibility of free and democratic countries.  

President You reminded that CCP is ambitious about Taiwan and even the entire world in an attempt to realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation to change the existing international order established by Europe and the US to make itself a global hegemony to rule the world. The CCP is a dangerous player because of its political values. It shifted its stance to criticize Confucius in the past and to establish Confucius Institutes around the world to absorb Confucius political thinking. Its traditional political stance can be summarized as “there cannot be two suns in the sky, nor two emperors on the Earth” and “all lands under heaven belong to the King, and all people on the shores are subjects of the King.” This has resulted in the vengeful attitude of “even though a thousand miles away, those who affront China must pay.” The CCP therefore utilizes wolf-warrior tactics.

President You stated that based on this thinking, China showed its ambition to dominate the Pacific Ocean with the US. It promoted Belt and Road Initiative, had territorial dispute with Japan in East China Sea over Diaoyutai, broke its promise not to have militarization in the South China Sea. It violated its promise to the UK that one country and two systems in Hong Kong would remain unchanged. Recently, Chinese balloon flied over to the US territory for collecting intelligence. Recently, it claimed to own the sovereignty and jurisdiction over the Taiwan Strait and Taiwan Strait is not an international water. All of these moves have posed a threat to global peace. Therefore, President You urged that protecting Taiwan is protecting global democracy, freedom and the interests of Europe and the US.   

President You once again thanked French National Assembly for its support to Taiwan. He hoped the friendship will continue to deepen and wished the delegation a pleasant stay.

In his remarks, Chairman Eric Bothorel stated that President You’s resounding statement echoes the National Assembly view. He stated that he brought with him President Macron’s message to Taiwan. this visit Both Taiwan and France have complicated history. The founding of France has its complicated background by fighting with neighboring countries. Then Europeans established the European continent today. The Russian aggression against Ukraine in an attempt to change the current balance of power shadowed the entire Europe. Therefore, French stance has been consistent to support the Taiwan Strait to maintain stability and peace. Chairman Eric Bothorel also shared his view on maintaining status quo across the Taiwan Strait to allow Taiwan to move forward on the path of freedom, democracy and human rights with its special characteristics.

Chairman Bothorel also mentioned about welcoming the Legislative Yuan delegation last week. He also met with friends from the business community that participated in the World Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce annual meeting. All of these allowed him to understand to understand the importance to strengthen relations with Taiwan. This is also the purpose of his visit this time. He concluded his remarks by quoting the maxim from the novel of Alexandre Dumas “The Three Musketeers” published in 1844: “One for all and all for one” in the hope that “Taiwan for the world and the world for Taiwan” to make collective efforts.

Afterwards, both sides had closed-door meeting and exchanged gifts followed by a press conference. Asked by the press that French President Macron responded to the question of Politico, Le Monde and Les Echos that Europe should not become a “vassal” and must avoid being drawn into any conflict between the US and China over Taiwan, Chairman Bothore stated that France does not want to see a conflict. He believed that no one would. Taking Russia-Ukraine war as an example, any conflict should be resolved peacefully.

Asked by press about whether Taiwan and France can have more room for cooperation in addition to economic and trade exchanges? Chairman Bothore stated that although Europe pursued strategic autonomy, the US has many advanced high-tech companies, Europe still has a certain degree of relance on the US in economic and digital developments. He suggested Taiwan to have cooperation with France in climate change in addition to semiconductor industry. In addition, he encouraged Taiwanese businesses to invest in France and Europe. He also stressed that economy is important, but friendship is more important. France and Taiwan share values of democracy, freedom and rule of law. He hoped that both sides work together to confront future challenges.

President You responded by stating that Taiwan and France had enjoyed various cooperative projects, such as the arm sales of Mirage 2000. The Yi-lan International Children's Folklore & Folkgame Festival is the result of the visit to Avignon during his tenure as Yilan county magistrate. The design of Yilan county government building also incorporates the spirit of three separation of powers by Montesquieu. He continued to state that French political thinkers, including Rousseau and Voltaire have profound impacts to future democracy. He continued to state that Taiwan and France enjoy close cooperation in the fields of economics and technology. France attaches great importance to Taiwan’s semiconductor industry. Although there were some rough times, France is a Pacific country. Its Pacific territory is larger than that of Taiwan. French military vessels navigate in Asia from time to time. In addition, there would be another French Senate delegation that was going to visit the Legislative Yuan the following week. This showed the frequent government and people-to-people exchanges between Taiwan and France. Therefore, he has full confidence in Taiwan-France relations.