Taiwan receives first-ever official EU delegation

Taiwan is "very high" on the EU's agenda, the head of a European Parliament delegation sent said on Wednesday during a landmark trip to the self-governing island.

Thirteen members of the European Parliament's committee on foreign interference in democratic processes comprise the first-ever official delegation dispatched to Taiwan from the EU legislature.

China views Taiwan as a breakaway province. It freezes out countries that maintain formal diplomatic relations with the island. As a result, the EU, like much of the world, does not have official ties with Taiwan.

The delegation met Taiwan's premier, Su Tseng-chang, on Wednesday. Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen will meet the delegates on Thursday.

The visit has "great significance," Taiwan's Foreign Ministry stated. The trip comes during increased tensions between mainland China and Taiwan.

What did the EU delegation and Taiwan say?

"Our visit shows how Taiwan now is very high in the agenda in Brussels and in every member state," Raphael Glucksmann, a French member of the European Parliament who is heading the delegation, told Su at a meeting.

"We in Europe are also confronted with interference from authoritarian regimes, and we came here to learn from you," he added.

Glucksmann described Taiwan as "a laboratory and a hub for the fight against foreign interference and the preservation of democracy."

The flourishing of your democracy is formidable and this is why we are so happy to be here,'' he said. ''You have shown that in this region democracy can flourish and that authoritarian regimes are not the future."

"Although we are geographically very far away, between our two sides, we share the same values, such as freedom, democracy, human rights and rule of law. ... In those regards, we are actually very close," Su told the delegation.

What else is on the agenda for the EU delegates?

During the three-day visit, the ministry said the delegation was expected to discuss threats such as disinformation and cyberattacks.

In a statement, the president's office said the government would share its experiences in tackling challenges such as "foreign infiltration."

Is the EU upgrading ties with Taiwan?

In October, the European Parliament voted to pass a resolution on Taiwan issues, noting tensions in the South China Sea.

The nonbinding resolution calls on the European Union to immediately begin taking steps to establish a bilateral investment agreement with Taiwan. It also proposes the politically symbolic gesture of changing the name of the representative office in Taiwan from the European Economic and Trade Office in Taiwan to the European Union Office in Taiwan.

Lithuania, an EU member, accepted Taiwan's request in July to open a "representative office" in its capital city that will act as a de facto embassy.

In response, China withdrew its ambassador to Lithuania and expelled Lithuania's ambassador to Beijing.

Taiwan's foreign minister, Joseph Wu, visited the Czech Republic and Slovakia last week on a tour to step up cooperation with the countries.

Growing tensions around Taiwan

China has sent an increasing amount of fighter jets toward the island in a prolonged campaign of military harassment since at least last year when Taiwan began publicly releasing data.

Tsai Ing-Wen recently confirmed that US troops were training soldiers on the island.

kmm/nm (AP, Reuters)