YOU Si-kun: Supporting Taiwan against Chinese Hegemony is tantamount to safeguarding Peace for the World

Accompanied by Legislators Chung Chia-pin, Chiang Chi-chen, Chiu Chen-yuan, Chen Jiau-hua, Chen I-Hsin, Secretary General Lin Jih-jia, Consultant Chou Ya-shu, Secretariat Director Kung Ping-chieh, Head of European Economic and Trade Office in Taiwan Filip Grzegorzewski and Vice Foreign Minister Alexander Yui, President You met a delegation of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) led by Vice Chair Urmas Paet on July 27.

In his opening remarks, President You first extended a warm welcome to the distinguished guests on behalf of the Legislative Yuan. He also expressed his gratitude to MEP Reinhard Bütikofer for giving him a heart-warming reception while visiting Europe last July. Despite Taiwan is far away from the European Union (EU), both parties share common values of democracy and freedom. Thus he feels a sense of ardent kinship while meeting members of the European Parliament.

President You then praised Europe as the cradle of modern constitutional democracy. The region has built up modern civilization and political system which nurture happiness and allow citizens to enjoy freedom, democracy and the rule of law. The European Parliament has extended the spirit of defending human rights, freedom, and peace to its relations with Taiwan. Over the past two years, it has passed 25 resolutions in favor of Taiwan, expressing concern over the situation in the Taiwan Strait and calling for the negotiations and signing of a Taiwan-European Union Bilateral Investment Agreement (BIA), for which President You expressed sincere gratitude.

President You underlined that Taiwan has been standing firm in the face of rising China’s threats. In his speech delivered at the Hudson Institute of the United States in May this year, President You cautioned that: “Taiwan is not the Chinese Communist Party’s ultimate destination,” but rather a steppingstone for its plot of becoming a global empire. After Xi Jinping took office, he had adopted expansionism aggressively, proclaiming the “Chinese Dream” and stated, “The broad Pacific Ocean is vast enough to embrace both China and the United States.” Xi also promoted the Belt and Road Initiative, violated a promise to President Obama for not militarizing islands in the South China Sea, began practicing wolf-warrior diplomacy, and upended Hong Kong’s “one country, two systems”. When Xi met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 23, Xi’s intention to disrupt the international order could not be clearer.

Furthermore, President You elaborated that China is viewed as a threat to the entire world for the fact that the CCP is an authoritarian regime in essence. The regime also inherited traditional Confucian thoughts such as, “There cannot be two suns in the sky, nor two emperors on earth,” and, “All land under heaven belongs to the emperor, and all people are subject to him.” The whole world is subject to one ruler in CCP’s ideology. Therefore, protecting Taiwan is tantamount to defending both Europe and the U.S. President You pointed out, more and more countries started to realize that China is an autocratic regime, which spares no effort to expand its sphere of influence abroad and relentlessly suppress dissidents at home. In April of this year, both European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Vice President Josep Borrell made statements, which, inter alia, stress the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. On July 9, President Joe Biden went even further, unequivocally stating, "China does have ambitions to become the world's new hegemon, replacing the United States," indicating a shift in the U.S.' perspective on the CCP.

President You stressed that Taiwan and China are not subordinate to each other, but the CCP continues to falsely claimed that "Taiwan is a part of China." Fortunately, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the "Taiwan International Solidarity Act" the day before yesterday, emphasizing that the UN General Assembly Resolution No. 2758 in 1971 only dealt with the issue of "representatives of China to the United Nations," the issue of representation of Taiwan remained unsolved. This clarification confirmed that Taiwan and China are not subordinate to each other, clearly debunking the legitimacy of the CCP's aggression against Taiwan. And it is of critical  significance for the security of the Taiwan Strait as well as the peace and stability of the Indo-Pacific region. In closing, President You extended his gratitude to all democratic allies for standing shoulder to shoulder with Taiwan. Taiwan will continue to strengthen its self-defense capabilities, working closely with global democratic allies to curb the spread of authoritarianism.

Vice-Chair Paet thanked President You and the legislators in attendance for the warm reception. He pointed out that authoritarian and autocratic forces worldwide are currently cooperating and causing turmoil in the international community. Therefore, democracies should deepen their cooperation. Besides partnering with the U.S., Canada, and other like-minded countries, the EU also attaches great importance to the Asia-Pacific region, with Taiwan being an important partner for the EU in Asia. This is the reason why the EU has dispatched this delegation to visit Taiwan.

Vice-Chair Paet stated that the Russia’s invasion of Ukraine not only disregards international law and the well-being of the people, but also sacrifices the lives of both Russian and Ukrainian citizens for unrealistic goals. Therefore, the EU will continue to support Ukraine for fear that if Ukraine cannot achieve complete victory, it will pose a great risk to other countries. He mentioned that China is closely watching the global response towards Russia, and the EU has repeatedly emphasized the need to resolve any disputes through peaceful means, especially when major powers use means that violate the rule of law and human rights to settle disputes with smaller countries.

Vice-Chair Paet then emphasized that Taiwan and the EU share democratic and liberal values, and the EU places great importance on its relationship with Taiwan. Taiwan and the EU are important investment and trade partners, and he hopes to continue advancing the legal framework related to strengthening bilateral investment. Additionally, Taiwan’s performance in effectively containing coronavirus during the pandemic is widely admired, so he hopes Taiwan can play a critical role on the international stage beyond political considerations, sharing its valuable experiences to benefit other countries. Finally, he expressed appreciation for Taiwan's friendship, and he has every confidence that the Taiwan-EU ties will be further enhanced for mutual benefit in the years to come.

After the meeting, both sides exchanged gifts and took photos. A luncheon hosted by President You then commenced, during which all participants widely exchanged views on issues of common interest. The meeting concluded in an amicable atmosphere around 13:30.

Note：

Delegation members of European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET)：

1、MEP Urmas PAET

2、MEP Reinhard BÜTIKOFER

3、MEP Michael GAHLER

4、MEP Tonino PICULA

5、MEP Nathalie LOISEAU

6、MEP Dominik TARCZYŃSKI

7、MEP Jakop G. DALUNDE

8、MEP Susanna CECCARDI表單的頂端