Taiwanese FM calls on EU to strengthen business ties with Taipei

Amid Beijing's growing military threat to democratic Taiwan, Foreign Minister Joseph called on the European Union to strengthen business ties with Taipei.

Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu expressed that the relations should be strengthened through a bilateral investment agreement. The Foreign Minister made these remarks while calling into an Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) conference in Rome, which is meant to be a demonstration on the sidelines of the G20 summit held there, Radio Free Asia reported.

"We need to have a mechanism to encourage the Taiwanese businessmen to look at Europe as a potential market for them," Radio Free Asia said quoting Wu's response to a question about how to improve relations between the EU and Taipei.

"And I think the best way to do it is through a bilateral investment agreement or BIA," he said.

"The rise of the People's Republic of China as led by the Chinese Communist Party is the defining challenge for the world's democratic space. This warrants us working more closely together," Wu added.

Wu is currently on a tour of Europe that took him to Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

Meanwhile, the Taiwanese Foreign Minister also met members of the European Parliament in Belgium and expressed gratitude for the last week's approval of a resolution asking the European Union (EU) to deepen its political ties with Taipei.

Wu urged the international community to not allow Beijing to act aggressively to enforce its territorial claims in the South China Sea when asked about increased Chinese militarism there, Radio Free Asia reported.

This came as Beijing claims full sovereignty over Taiwan, a democracy of almost 24 million people located off the southeastern coast of mainland China, despite the fact that the two sides have been governed separately for more than seven decades.

Taipei, on the other hand, has countered the Chinese aggression by increasing strategic ties with democracies including the US, which has been repeatedly opposed by Beijing.

China has also threatened that "Taiwan's independence" means war. On June 1, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to complete reunification with self-ruled Taiwan and vowed to smash any attempts at formal independence for the island.

(ANI)