Senators from France visit for talks

TAIPEI: A delegation of French senators led by a former defence minister arrived yesterday in Taiwan, where they will hold talks with President Tsai Ing-wen, despite strong protests from China.

Beijing opposes Taipei having any official diplomatic exchanges and has aggressively tried to dissuade politicians from visiting in recent years.

The Chinese embassy in Paris warned that the visit would damage the interests of China, Chinese-French relations and “the image of France”, in recent comments on its website.

France’s foreign ministry has dismissed China’s protests, saying the senators were free to make their own decisions about their travel plans.

Taiwan lauded the senators for resisting pressure from Beijing to go ahead with the visit.

“We sincerely welcome the French delegation led by Senator Alain Richard to Taiwan. I look forward to meeting with you and working together to further strengthen Taiwan-France ties,” tweeted Ms Tsai.

“The senators are making the visit despite threats from the Chinese ambassador to France, showing their steadfast commitment to the spirit of freedom and democracy,” Taipei’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. The delegation, including Max Brisson, Else Joseph and Olivier Cadic, will meet Ms Tsai today before wrapping up their trip on Sunday, according to the ministry.

The Chinese ambassador wrote to Mr Richard in February, saying his visit would “clearly violate the one-China principle.