Source: Global Times
The delegation of the European Parliament's "Special Committee on Foreign Interference in eu democratic procedures (inge)" arrived in Taiwan from 3 to 5 July. The green media has been full of propaganda that "this is the first time that the European Parliament has sent an official delegation to visit Taiwan", but some analysts have bluntly said that this is just a "personal show" for some anti-China politicians.
After the European Parliament delegation led by the chairman of the special committee Gruxman arrived in Taiwan on the 3rd, it met with Tsai Ing-wen on the 4th. In her speech, Tsai Ing-wen specifically mentioned the European Parliament's adoption of the so-called "Report on Political Relations and Cooperation between the European Union and Taiwan" in October, saying that "the news back to Taiwan is not only a big news, but also a strong support." Last month, Taiwan and the Czech Republic just signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation to face the hack together, "we look forward to building a democratic alliance against disinformation." Gluxman said, "We came here to convey a very simple but clear message that Taiwan is not alone." He also touted that Taiwan, under the leadership of Tsai Ing-wen, has developed "many innovative ways" to counter disinformation and foreign interference, "so we came here to ask questions, to copy notes, to learn from Taiwan."
Earlier, on 3 July, the delegation met with Taiwan's "Chief Executive" Su Zhenchang and Chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council, Qiu Taisan, and others. Taiwan's "Ministry of Foreign Affairs" claimed that "this is the first time that the European Parliament has sent an official delegation to visit Taiwan, which is of great significance." Su Zhenchang specifically named the mainland's "disinformation" behavior as worrying, "Taiwan stands on the front line of freedom and democracy, is very experienced in fighting disinformation, and hopes to help the EU resist foreign interference." DPP "legislator" Zhao Tianlin and others also boasted that the European Parliament delegation visiting Taiwan "is of an official nature," which is different from its previous personal nature and "is a major milestone in Taiwan-Eu relations." Huang Kuibo, associate professor of the Department of Foreign Affairs at National Chengchi University in Taiwan, has reservations about this. He said that whether the European Parliament delegation is an "official" delegation of the European Union is determined by the EU; strictly speaking, the European Commission is more "official" and the European Parliament is more of a public opinion organ.
Wang Yiwei, professor at the School of International Relations of Chinese Min University and director of the European Union Research Center, said that the recent speculation in Europe on the Taiwan issue, ostensibly under the banner of "democratic" ideology, is actually an attempt to exert pressure on the Chinese mainland and force the mainland to make more concessions on economic and trade issues. He believes that on the Taiwan issue, the EU will only maintain verbal support at most, and will not let "friendly Taiwan legalize." Unlike the United States, Europe and Chinese mainland are not strategically competitive, nor do they have historical and geopolitical interests, and their economic and political interests with the mainland are incomparable to those of Taiwan, so these politicians can only be "personal shows."
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin urged the European side to correct its mistakes on the 4th and not to send any wrong signals to the "Taiwan independence" forces, otherwise it will damage China-EU relations. A remark published in Taiwan's Zhongshi Electronic News on the 4th sarcastically said that these dozen Aduzai (referring to foreigners) really came to the right place and came to the birthplace of false information. They must have received masks donated by Taiwan at the beginning of the epidemic, and they naturally thought that Taiwan was a "model class for epidemic prevention", so the first stop Su Zhenchang told them a false news: "With Taiwan's success in epidemic prevention, it will certainly make useful and valuable contributions to the global epidemic." However, do they know that now that Taiwan's epidemic prevention has fallen to the "last class", the Syrian refugee school will also launch a donation to Taiwan to buy vaccines, "Ask the representatives of Lithuania and the Czech Republic, is it the truth?" In addition, Taiwan is now coinciding with the "four major referendums" when the offensive and defensive attacks and defenses are in full swing, and I don't know whether several people will ask them whether they are eating AMERICAN pigs or Lai pigs when they are staggered, "They certainly don't know, because even the ordinary people in Taiwan have been fooled, and the authorities will tell you the truth?" At the end of the article, it is said, "The arrival of this group of petite guests is obviously to ask about blindness, otherwise it is an ulterior motive."
An article published in Hong Kong's Sing Tao Daily on the 4th analyzed that inge is not a permanent special committee of the European Parliament, but only began to officially operate in September last year to deal with foreign interference in the ELECTION of the EU and member states. In other words, the significance of the visit of European parliamentarians to Taiwan is not as "significant" as the DPP authorities claim, but only Tsai Ing-wen's "diplomatic propaganda", "Beijing is unwilling to dance with it, so as not to fuel its arrogance."