President Tsai meets British parliamentarians
On the morning of October 2, President Tsai Ing-wen met with a delegation of parliamentarians from the United Kingdom. She stated that their visit reflects the growing friendship between Taiwan and the United Kingdom, and said she hopes that during their visit, they will experience Taiwan's passion and beauty.
President Tsai opened her remarks by welcoming the British parliamentarians to Taiwan, and noted that Mr. Mark Garnier had returned to Taiwan once again, this time bringing along so many friends. She said she believes that Mr. Garnier has great expectations for this trip, and expressed hope that the delegation members will be impressed by what they see.
The president noted that lately, there has been an increasing British presence at the Presidential Office, as she received many friends from the United Kingdom including the UK's Trade Envoy to Taiwan Lord Faulkner of Worcester and Minister of State for Trade Policy at the Department for International Trade George Hollingbery. A few months ago, she said, Legislative Yuan President Su Chia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) visited the United Kingdom and met with Mr. Garnier and several other members in the delegation. The president said she was sure that the lively introduction to Taiwan's democracy that Mr. Su gave them made a deep impression, and that high-level reciprocal visits like that are a strong testament to the substantive and ever closer exchanges between Taiwan and the United Kingdom in fields like economics and trade, energy, and parliamentary diplomacy.
Commenting on Taiwan-UK trade, President Tsai pointed out that this year, Taiwan opened the market to British pork for the first time, creating more business opportunities for the United Kingdom and providing the local market with new choices. These actions clearly show, she believes, that Taiwan is one of the UK's best trading partners.
The president also noted that this past June, we convened the first Taiwan-UK dialogue on energy and agriculture, jointly exploring possibilities for cooperation on green energy and new agriculture. These events also allowed us to show our British friends our efforts to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
President Tsai emphasized that although Taiwan is not a member of the UN, as a responsible member of the international community, we have always been willing and able to play our part and assist our partners around the globe. Indeed, she said, be it sustainable development, public health and disease prevention, civil aviation security, or combating cross-border crime, Taiwan has devoted extensive efforts to fulfilling its responsibilities. She hopes that such contributions will not go unnoticed, and that a capable, responsible nation like Taiwan will no longer be excluded from international society due to political expediency.
In closing, the president stated that the delegation's visit reflects the growing friendship between Taiwan and the United Kingdom. She then expressed hope that they will experience for themselves Taiwan's passion and beauty during their time here, and visit us as often as possible in the future. She said she is proud to say that Taiwanese pork is also delicious, and asked them to try some.
Also in the delegation were House of Lords Members Lord Collins of Highbury, Baroness Falkner of Margravine, and Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist; and House of Commons Members Kate Hollern, Philip Hollobone, and Stephen Morgan.