TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The European Parliament reaffirmed its support for Taiwan in two resolutions passed on Wednesday (Feb. 28), the 2023 Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Common Security and Defense Policy.
Through the resolutions, the European Parliament criticized Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s (習近平) remark that China would never renounce the right to use force over Taiwan and pointed out the fact that neither Taiwan nor China is subordinate to the other, per the Taipei Representative Office in the EU and Belgium. The parliament said it was concerned over China’s use of disinformation to undermine public trust in Taiwan’s democracy and government.
Only Taiwan’s democratically elected government can represent Taiwanese on the international stage, it added.
The parliament called on the European Commission and EU members to support Taiwan’s meaningful participation in organizations such as the World Health Organization, the International Civil Aviation Organization, and the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, amid China’s continued political isolation of the country. It reiterated that Taiwan is a key EU partner and democratic ally in the Indo-Pacific region.
Taiwan plays a significant role in global supply chains and international rules-based order, the parliament said. It reaffirmed support for an EU-Taiwan Bilateral Investment Agreement and other mutually beneficial agreements on trade and investment.
The parliament also accused China of attempting to change the Taiwan Strait status quo with its recent unilateral changes to certain flight routes earlier this month. This move only contributes to the destabilization of the Indo-Pacific, it said.