Five Swiss National Councilors will travel to Taiwan in February. You belong to the Swiss-Taiwan parliamentary group. Co-chair Fabian Molina (32) calls it a “sign of support for democracy in Taiwan”.
The Zurich SP National Council confirmed a report from “NZZ am Sonntag” upon request. The agenda includes meetings with members of government and parliament. The group wants to get a picture of existing or possible future collaborations. But the program is not finished yet.
Meeting with chairman?
Besides Molina, the second of three co-chairs of the Taiwan Group, Nicolas Walder (56, Greens), as well as Mustafa Atici (53, SP), Léonore Porchet (33, Greens) and Yves Nidegger (65, SVP ) will travel to Taiwan .
The third co-chair, State Councilor Marco Chiesa (48, SVP), is not there. The Swiss-Taiwanese parliamentary group consists of more than 30 members of parliament.
The group also wants to meet with Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen, 66, but Molina said it’s unclear if they will. The trip lasts from February 5 to 10.
Molina says she has not yet received a response from China, which sees the island of Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China. But the travel plans have only just become public.
China has reacted angrily to visits by foreign parliamentary delegations to Taiwan in the past. For example, Beijing protested in October when German parliamentarians flew to the island.
Chinese respond
In the “NZZ am Sonntag”, the Chinese embassy takes a two-sided position. The text was kindly worded, but contained sharp warnings, according to the newspaper. Accordingly, China hopes that the Swiss parliamentarians will “give priority to maintaining peace in the Taiwan Strait”, “abstain from any form of official contact with the authorities in Taiwan” and “will not send false signals to the separatists”. “, as stated in the resources. write.
According to Molina, the travel plans were not controversial in the Swiss-Taiwan faction. There are many so-called friendship groups such as the Swiss-Taiwan parliamentary group in Bern. Members of Parliament pay for the flight to Taiwan and hotel stays themselves. (SDA/rus)
Source:Blick
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