TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Members of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China boarded a Coast Guard ship Thursday for an unprecedented tour of the waters around Kinmen, frequently the scene of intrusions by Chinese coast guard vessels.
The trip by eight incumbent and former lawmakers from around the world was the first ever to have taken place in conjunction with an active Coast Guard patrol, the Liberty Times reported. The IPAC members were visiting Taiwan to attend the International Ocean Forum in Taipei.
The group also met with President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) and Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) to exchange views about the latest developments in the Taiwan Strait. The 90-minute tour allowed them to witness the situation in and around Kinmen, the island within view of the Chinese city of Xiamen.
The group included IPAC Executive Director Luke de Pulford, former UK Security Minister Tom Tugendhat, UK Members of Parliament Alicia Kearns and Tris Osborne, Czech lawmaker Katerina Demetrashvili, Ukrainian Legislator Yulia Sirko, former Indian lawmaker Priyanka Chaturvedi, and New Zealand Legislator Helen White, according to the Liberty Times.
