Vice President Dr. Johnny C. Chiang: Parliamentary diplomacy is a way to obtain international support for Taiwan

On March 10, 2024, Vice President Dr. Johnny C. Chiang of the Legislative Yuan led at 8:00 a.m. a delegation to Japan for the 86th Council Meeting and 52nd General Assembly of the Asian-Pacific Parliamentarians’ Union (APPU) to be held in Tokyo, and the delegation returned on the 14th of March. The cross-party delegation included KMT Legislators Ko Chih-en, Lu Yu-ling, Chang Chih-lun, Yu Hao, Ko Ju-chun, Liao Wei-hsiang as well as DPP Legislators Chuang Jui-hsiung, Ho Hsin-chun, Wang Ting-yu, Su Chiao-hui, Hung Sun-han, Lee Po-yi, and TPP Legislator Lin Yi-chun.

When interviewed, Vice President Chiang pointed out that this trip marked the first overseas visit by Taiwanese legislature delegation since the new (11th) Legislature was sworn in. Members of the ruling and opposition parties have all been looking forward to the 14-member cross-party delegation making its debut in parliamentary diplomacy.

Vice President Chiang continued to state that APPU is an organization with a long history that dates back to 1965. The 52nd General Assembly this year was also the first physical meeting resumed since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, during which all sessions had been held online. The last APPU assembly held by Taiwan was the 49th General Assembly and 83rd Council Meeting in 2019. Taiwan’s ruling and opposition parties have always attached great importance to the APPU event each year, and legislators, regardless of their political affiliation, have been attending the events proactively to meet and exchange ideas with members of Parliament from various countries.

Vice President Chiang mentioned that the theme of the APPU meeting this year is Climate Change- Prevention and Mitigation for Large-scale Disasters. Taiwan has been experienced in dealing with issues on this topic, which created a dialogue between our delegation and the participating members from other Asia-Pacific countries; this granted Taiwan’s international engagement and deepened partnerships at the event.

Chiang added that in addition to participating in the three-day APPU Council and the Assembly meetings, the delegation also visited multiple core members from both the Japanese ruling party and opposition parties. Meanwhile, the delegation also met with leaders from Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party Youth Division. As for meetings with delegations from other countries at the APPU event, there were discussions that strengthened the ties among countries and also exchange of ideas on several topics of common interest including economy, trade, culture, and security.

Vice President Chiang concluded by emphasizing that with the international exchange among cross-party members at the event, it is believed that the relations between Taiwan and Japan could be deepened. This trip came with two significance; first, it was the first time that APPU resumed its physical sessions after the COVID-19 pandemic, which was rather memorable; the second was that it was the first trip for parliamentary diplomacy made by the new Legislature. It is believed that Taiwan’s legislators from all parties in the new term will live up to the expectations of the people by making the most of every opportunity for diplomatic outreach, so that there can be more countries voicing their support for Taiwan to deepen resilient diplomatic relations