Legislative Yuan

Press Release

September 14, 2023

President You meets and hosts a luncheon in honor of Austrian parliamentary delegation

You Si-kun: We are fighting a war between freedom and democracy against autocracy

Accompanied by Legislators Chuang, Jui-Hsiung, Hsieh,Yi-Fong, Chiu Chen-yuan, and Chen, Jiau-hua, Secretary General Lin Jih-jia, International Affairs Department Director Kevin C.F. Lin and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Roy Chun Lee met and hosted a luncheon in honor of the five-member Austrian parliamentary delegation , including MP Carmen Jeitler-Cincelli, MP Andreas Minnich,  MP Peter Weidinger, MP Corinna Scharzenberger, and MP Fiona Fiedler on the afternoon of today (14th)

In his remarks, President You extend a warm welcome t the Austrian parliamentary delegation on behalf of Taiwan’s congress. Their visit is significant. He recalled when took office on February 1, 2020 as the president of the Legislative Yuan, Dr. Reinhold Lopatka, Deputy Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee led an Austrian parliamentarian delegation to visit on February 6 that year, the first foreign delegation he received as the president. In August, Secretary General Lin led a civilian delegation to visit Austrian parliament and was warmly received by MP Andreas Minnich, who introduced the history of the parliament, parliamentary system and parliamentary building to enhance parliamentary exchanges. President You expressed his special thanks to MP Andreas Minnich.

President You stated that Austria is a landlock country with distinct four seasons, while Taiwan is an island country. He recalled the first time he visited Europe 40 years again in 1984. When his flight landed in the airport of Vienna, it was summertime. From the aircraft, he could see green forest decorated with red-roof houses. He was impressed by the beautiful scenery. Austria is the seventh largest trading partner of Taiwan among EU members. Both sides have enjoyed close economic and trade exchanges, especially in the cooperation in semiconductor and automobiles. In October last year, Austrian scholar Anton Zeilinger was awarded with the Nobel Prize in Physics, showing that Austria has exceptional talents in high-tech industry. Strengthening exchanges and cooperation is a win-win situation.

President You continued to state that although Taiwan and Austria are geographically distant from each other, both countries uphold universal values of freedom, democracy, human rights and rule of law. There is a Chinese saying goes like this: “Close friends are found around the corner of the world. The world is like a close neighbor.” In February this year, Austria expelled four Russian diplomats in Vienna to condemn Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. In addition, Austrian German Newspaper Die Presse had the article entitled “Im Würgegriff der Volksrepublik” by Minister of Foreign Affairs Josph Wu to let the Austrian people have further understanding about Taiwan’s longstanding efforts to defend democracy, freedom, rule of low and human rights.

President You pointed out that the Chinese government released the new Standard Map 2023 on August 28. It unilaterally includes Taiwan, South China Sea islands, and disputed territories between China and India. This is not the first time for China to violate international regulations and to infringe the sovereignty of neighboring countries. Taiwan continues to face China’s wolf warrior diplomatic blockade, political infiltration, economic coercion and increasing military threats to continue to escalate the tension in the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific region.

President You underscored that Taiwan is not CCP’s ultimate destination. CCP inherited Chinese political thinking to be summarized as “There cannot be two suns in the sky, nor two emperors on the earth. And all land under heaven belongs to the King, and all people on the shores are subjects of the King.” It is ambitious about the entire world in an attempt to realize Chinese great rejuvenation. Its goal is to become a global hegemony to change the rules-based international order constructed by Europe and the US. Taiwan is one of its steppingstones to realize its ambition. If we do not take a serious look at China’s threat toward Taiwan and handle it appropriately and acquiesce to its act of aggression, in today’s globalized world, China’s threats will soon be in front of the door of many countries. At that time, everyone will be affected.    

President You finally stated that we are facing a fight between freedom and democracy against the authoritarian regime. Taiwan is standing on the frontline fighting against CCP. As the gatekeeper of safeguarding freedom and democracy, Taiwan hopes to have close cooperation with global democratic alliance to firmly support democratic Taiwan and protect world peace and stability. President You concluded his remarks of wishing the delegation a safe trip and everlasting friendship between Taiwan and Austria.

As the head of delegation, MP Carmen Jeitler-Cincelli thanked the warm hospitality of the Legislative Yuan. She stated that the delegation arrived in Taiwan two days earlier. Within the short two days, she strongly felt the love for democracy and freedom of the people of Taiwan. She was impressed by what she had seen. She stated that a country needs a shared belief to achieve a goal with collective efforts. Taiwan is a testament to this statement. When the delegation visited the human rights museum, they were terrified when they saw the cells in the past. They were all touched by the volunteer tour guide that was imprisoned for more than a decade. She stressed that the whole world needs to understand that democracy is not a free gift. As we pursue democracy, sacrifice was common. This visit to Taiwan was to find like-minded partners to enhance communication and mutual understanding. The delegation hopes to learn from Taiwan that continues to pursue innovation and change. The delegation also hopes to be the bridge of exchanges and cooperation between Taiwan and Austria. In closing, she shared that whenever everyone thinks of Austria, people would think of Mozart. In fact, Vienna not only has music, but also excels itself in environmental protection technology and medicine and health. She sincerely welcomed President You to be find opportunity to visit Austria.