April 29, 2018
No. 088
Senator Alain Richard, Chairman of the French Senate’s France-Taiwan Friendship Group, is leading a four-member delegation to Taiwan from April 29 to May 5, 2018 at the invitation of the Republic of China (Taiwan). The ROC Ministry of Foreign Affairs has expressed its welcome to the visit.
The visit will give the delegation a deeper understanding of Taiwan’s recent developments in such areas as politics, economics, science and technology, and society, while strengthening friendship and cooperation between France and Taiwan.
The delegation will call on President Tsai Ing-wen and Legislative Yuan President Su Jia-chyuan, and call at the Ministry of Science and Technology, National Development Council, Mainland Affairs Council, Taichung City government, and Department of Cyber Security under the Executive Yuan. In addition, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will host a luncheon in their honor. The parliamentarians will also travel to Hualien to learn more about post-earthquake restoration efforts, and visit sites of economic and cultural interest, such as the National Palace Museum.
Senator Richard visited Taiwan in 2015, but this is the first trip to Taiwan for the rest of the France-Taiwan Friendship Group delegation, including Senator Joël Guerriau, Senator Daniel Laurent, and Executive Secretary Judith Bout.
In recent years, Taiwan and France have enjoyed close exchanges in a wide range of areas, including trade, science and technology, culture, the arts, and air transport. France is not only Taiwan’s fourth-largest trading partner in Europe, but also one of Taiwan’s most important partners in the field of scientific research and development. The two countries also signed a joint declaration on youth working holidays in July 2016, implementing the program on August 8 the same year.
On April 16, 2018, Taiwan’s China Airlines and Air France launched direct flights between Taipei and Paris on a code-share route, with three flights scheduled per week. Together with the daily flights by EVA Air, there are now 10 direct flights connecting the two capital cities, thereby furthering expanding bilateral business, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges. (E)