TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Several European parliamentarians met with Vice President-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) on Thursday (March 21) and reaffirmed support for Taiwan.
After a low-key visit to the U.S., Hsiao headed to Europe, where she first visited the Czech Republic before arriving in Belgium.
She met with former Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip, French MEP Dominique Riquet, and former Polish Foreign Minister Anna Fotyga.
Ansip posted on X, saying, “I wish Taiwan every success!”
Riquet shared a message on X saying, “Our fight for freedom and democracy is more shared than ever, and the Taiwanese people can rest assured it will always find dear friends in Europeans
Fotyga also took to X, saying: “Taiwan is our trusted and like-minded partner. We share common values and face similar challenges. I am glad to greet Taiwan's vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim at the European Parliament for an important exchange of views.”
Hsiao met with Czech Senate President Milos Vystrcil in Prague on March 19. Their meeting was blasted by China as “egregious.”
Last month, the EU passed the Common Foreign and Security Policy report and Common Security and Defense Policy report. The former report ruled that only Taiwan’s democratically elected government could represent its people on the global stage.
The latter report urged EU member states to increase the frequency of freedom of navigation operations through the Taiwan Strait and to draw from Taiwan’s expertise and technological prowess to counter Beijing’s disinformation and cyber threats.