August 1, 2014
No. 168
At the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China (Taiwan), President of the Taiwan Friendship Group and Chairman of the Economic Affairs Committee of the French National Assembly, François Brottes, is in Taiwan from July 27 to August 1, 2014, leading a seven-member delegation. The delegation includes five members of the Economic Affairs and Social Affairs Committees of the National Assembly.
While in Taiwan, Chairman Brottes and his colleagues have had an audience with President Ma Ying-jeou. They have called on Legislator Pan Wei-kang, Minister and Chairman of the Atomic Energy Council Tsai Chuen-horng, Minister of Foreign Affairs David Y. L. Lin, Deputy Minister of the Mainland Affairs Council Lin Chu-chia, and Deputy Ministers of the National Development Council Chen Chien-liang and Hwang Wang-hsiang. The delegation members also visited the National Palace Museum, Taipei 101, and Fortress Zeelandia.
A member of the Socialist party, Chairman Brottes is an important French parliamentarian who has been to Taiwan on several occasions in the past, and is well acquainted with the political and economic situation here. As President of the Taiwan Friendship Group, he has successfully raised Taiwan’s profile in the French National Assembly, which has produced some very positive outcomes. Vice President of the Taiwan Friendship Group Denis Jacquat, also a member of the delegation who has visited Taiwan several times before, actively promotes bilateral relations between France and Taiwan. Meanwhile, this is the first time that Mr. Damien Abad, Ms. Marie-Noëlle Battistel, and Ms. Jeanine Dubié, who are all members the French National Assembly’s Economic Affairs Committee, have been to Taiwan. The trip aims to provide the delegation members with a better understanding of recent developments in Taiwan in terms of politics, the economy, and cross-strait relations, and will enhance bilateral ties between Taiwan and France. (E)