Mission:
Japanese representative Keiji Furuya is set to lead a group that will arrive next week, while Canadian lawmakers plan a ‘necessary’ trip to Taiwan.
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Kayleigh Madjar / Staff Writer, CNA
Lawmakers from Japan, Canada, Germany and the UK are set to visit Taiwan in the coming months to show support amid heightened threats from China after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei earlier this month. is.
The next visit next Monday through Wednesday will be a delegation from Japan’s parliament, Kyodo News reported on Tuesday.
The group will be led by Japan representative Keiji Furuya, chairman of the Japan-Korea Parliamentarians’ Advisory Council and a member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, Kyodo News reported, citing multiple sources.
Photo: Reuters
They are reportedly planning to meet with President Tsai Ing-wen and defense officials to discuss working with the United States to improve its defense system and to boost China’s military drills last week.
It will also send a delegation of the Council to attend the Double Ten National Day celebrations on October 10, and will also discuss holding a trilateral strategic dialogue with U.S. lawmakers. , it said.
Furuya visited Taiwan in September 2020 to attend the funeral of former President Lee Teng-hui.
Photo courtesy of the Office of the President.
The foreign ministry on Tuesday welcomed the announced visit by the council, which sent delegations annually until the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Highlighting travel as a return to normal with eased border controls, foreign ministry spokeswoman Joan Ou told Central News Agency that arrangements were still being made and details were not yet ready. He said it will be made public as soon as possible.
Canadian lawmakers are planning a trip to Taiwan in October for what the delegation leader called a “necessary” visit.
The eight-member group of the Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade will be led by Liberal Judy Sgro, the chairman of the group, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reported on Tuesday.
“The Trade Commission is very eager to visit Taiwan and see if there are opportunities to deepen trade ties between the two countries,” the CBC quoted Sgro as saying.
Suguro, who chairs the Canada-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group, said planning for the trip began last spring, but is still subject to COVID-19 protocols.
“We need to protect other countries that have fought for freedom and democracy,” she said. “So I’m trying to be diplomatic in my comments, but clearly Canada is also proud of standing up to China, and I think that backlash is very important.”
The group, which had 89 members from both parliaments as of last year, sent a delegation to Taiwan in 2014.
Two other delegations from the German Bundestag will be attending in October.
German lawmaker Holger Becker told visiting Taiwanese officials last Monday that six members of the German-Taiwan parliamentary friendship group are planning a visit in the first week of October.
The German Bundestag’s Human Rights Committee will send a delegation of eight parliamentarians from six political parties to Taiwan at the end of October as part of a larger Asian tour, Deutsche News Agency DPA reports. rice field.
The committee had reportedly planned a 2020 visit that was canceled due to the pandemic.
early this month, Guardian The UK House of Commons Foreign Relations Committee has reported that it plans to send a delegation in November or early December.
UK MP Tom Tugendhat is expected to lead the visit if he is still chairman of the committee after next month’s elections, but a member has tested positive for COVID-19. It was postponed from the beginning of this year after showing
Additional reporting by Lu Yi-hsuan
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