BEIJING (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd November, 2022) Member of the European Parliament Reinhard Butikofer, who is currently on a visit to Taipei as part of an EU delegation, said on Thursday that he would be ready to support Taiwan, should the need arise.
A group of eight lawmakers from the EU parliament and the parliaments of some EU states who are members of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) have been visiting Taiwan since Tuesday.
During their meeting with the head of the Taiwanese administration, Tsai Ing-wen, Butikofer noted that the goal of the visit was to show support for Taiwan's democracy, which is one of the key aspects of IPAC's work. He also praised the role the island has played in helping Ukraine during the ongoing crisis there.
The EU lawmaker stated that both the IPAC and the Taiwanese government were "countering threats from the Chinese Communist Party" and protecting peace.
Beijing imposed sanctions against Butikofer and Sjoerd Sjoerdsma, a member of the Netherlands House of Representatives, who is also part of the delegation, in March 2021 in response to EU sanctions introduced against four Chinese officials.
The situation around Taiwan escalated after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island in early August. Beijing condemned Pelosi's trip, which it regarded as a gesture of support for separatism, and launched large-scale military exercises in the vicinity of the island. Despite this fact, several countries, including Germany, have sent delegations to the island since then, further increasing tensions in the Taiwan Strait.
Taiwan has been governed independently from mainland China since 1949. Beijing views the island as its province, while Taiwan � a territory with its own elected government � maintains that it is an autonomous country but stops short of declaring independence. Beijing opposes any official contacts of foreign states with Taipei and considers Chinese sovereignty over the island indisputable.
