TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) hoped to deepen cooperation with France during a meeting with a visiting French National Assembly delegation on Monday.
Lin called France one of Taiwan’s most promising strategic partners in advancing President Lai Ching-te’s (賴清德) “Five Trusted Industry Sectors,” according to the foreign ministry. He added that Taiwan seeks to collaborate with France in trade, aerospace, satellite communications, and energy.
As Europe advances policies of “reindustrialization” and “rearmament,” Taiwan can serve as a trusted partner, given its key role in global semiconductors and artificial intelligence, Lin said.
The foreign minister thanked the French government and parliament’s long-standing support for Taiwan. He said that both chambers of the French parliament have passed multiple pro-Taiwan resolutions in recent years.
The parliament also included language in France’s seven-year military planning legislation affirming the importance of safeguarding freedom of navigation in the Taiwan Strait, he said.
Speaking at a banquet later that day, Deputy Foreign Minister Francois Wu (吳志中) said Taiwan’s drone exports to Europe increased more than 40 times last year compared with 2024, and that export value in the first quarter of this year has already matched the total for last year. This reflects strong prospects for cooperation with France in drones and other key technologies, Wu said.
French lawmaker Estelle Youssouffa, the leader of the delegation, said she was pleased to see promising cooperation between Taiwan and France in semiconductors, drones, and other sectors. She noted her origins from Mayotte, a French overseas territory located in the Indian Ocean near mainland Africa, could serve as a gateway for Taiwan to enter African markets.
She added that around 1 million people live in France’s Indo-Pacific overseas territories, which place strong importance on peace, stability, and freedom of navigation in the region.
