March 24, 2024
No. 111
Vice President-elect Hsiao Bi-khim visited the Czech Republic, Poland, and Lithuania on a tour of Central and Eastern European countries at the invitation of European think tanks. During her trip, she met with European parliamentarians, including Czech Senate President Miloš Vystrčil, Czech Chamber of Deputies Deputy Speaker Jan Bartošek, Lithuanian Seimas Speaker Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, and Polish Senate Deputy Marshal Michał Kamiński. She also engaged with members of parliamentary Taiwan friendship groups and parliaments’ foreign affairs committee chairs of the Baltic states—Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia.
In her visit, Vice President-elect Hsiao conveyed the message that Taiwan stands with European democracies and called for stronger cooperation in areas such as democratic supply chains. The trip underscored Taiwan’s high regard for Central and Eastern European countries and helped deepen their understanding of Taiwan’s determination to maintain peace.
Under the theme of democracy and security, Vice President-elect Hsiao gave speeches at the Czech think tank Sinopsis, the Polish Casimir Pulaski Foundation, and the Lithuanian Vilnius University Institute of International Relations and Political Science. She elaborated that Taiwan would maintain regional peace through the four pillars of bolstering national defense and deterrence, enhancing economic security, broadening partnerships with fellow democracies, and upholding the cross-strait status quo. She also called on the European Union to reaffirm its commitment to regional stability and demonstrate its confidence in the prosperity of the region by signing an economic partnership agreement with Taiwan.
Vice President-elect Hsiao also visited the Nicolaus Copernicus Academy in Poland to view the results of Taiwan-Poland cooperation to assist Ukraine. She had a lively conversation with six Ukrainian PhD students supported by Taiwanese scholarships. Taiwan will continue to work with Poland and other Central and Eastern European countries to assist the reconstruction of Ukraine.
Taiwan enjoys close and cordial relations with Central and Eastern European countries. During a media interview on January 13, Czech President Petr Pavel became the first European head of state to publicly congratulate Taiwan on successfully completing its democratic elections. Last year, during a speech at the 78th UN General Assembly, President Pavel condemned China for raising tensions across the Taiwan Strait and called for the peaceful resolution of disputes and contentious issues. Meanwhile, last October, Speaker Čmilytė-Nielsen led a delegation of Lithuanian government officials and representatives of companies and business associations to Taiwan to strengthen bilateral cooperation. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue to build on these solid foundations to promote bilateral visits and exchanges and deepen reciprocal, mutually beneficial, and substantive cooperation in all spheres. (E)