China
#Taipei is the city closest to Western values in the Chinese world.
Ko Wen-je, mayor of the capital of Taiwan, visited Brussels on Wednesday and became the first Taiwanese mayor who spoke publicly at the European Parliament. During his brief speech, he tried to build bonds with the EU by stressing the progressive values of Taiwan.
"Taipei is a city that incorporates progressive Western values into a Chinese society, and we stick to these values, which are democracy, freedom, diversity, openness, human rights, rule of laws and sustainability," Ko said.
Taiwan is to become the first country in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage in less than 2 years, after the ruling of its constitutional court in May 2017 in favour of gay couples' unions.
Ko especially emphasized the freedom of speech in Taiwan. Last year, Reporters Without Borders opened its first Asian bureau in Taipei. The press freedom advocating NGO first intended to settle in Hong Kong but changed the plan because of China's increasing sway there. "Reporters flow to a freer space," the mayor said during his speech. "You all know what I mean."
China sees self-ruled Taiwan as a breakaway province and keeps warning of reunification by using force. Tension between China and Taiwan has been escalating since the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party won the Taiwanese presidential election in 2016. Together with a series of military harassment, China has also increased the diplomatic pressure on Taiwan, leaving the island only 20 allies in the world at the moment.
The US is by far Taiwan's most important friend and its main source of arms. However, according to Ko, "the power of the EU is no less than the US, and Taiwan should put more efforts to build cooperation with the EU."
Despite the fact that the EU is Taiwan's fourth trade partner, the EU has no diplomatic or formal political relations with Taiwan following the Union's 'one-China' policy. Most of the MEPs who attended Ko's speech, including Charles Tannock and Andrey Kovatchev, are members of the European Parliament-Taiwan Friendship Group.
Due to the pressure from China, no Taiwanese leaders have made official visits to the EU so far.
In Taiwan, Ko is predicted by many commentators as one of the strong potential candidates for the 2020 presidential election. Starting from the 27th, his second visit to Europe is planned to last 11 days with the speech at the European Parliament as highlight. After Brussels, he will travel to Poland and Turkey.
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