French Senate delegation arrives in Taiwan after Chinese show of force

A group of French senators arrived in Taiwan for a five-day visit Wednesday following a large Chinese show of force with fighter jets amid the highest tensions in decades between China and Taiwan.

The French delegation led by Alain Richard (2nd from right) was greeted by Taiwan's deputy foreign minister Harry Tseng (right) CNA Pool POOL/AFP

The group, led by Senator Alain Richard, a former defence minister under former president François Mitterand, will meet with Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen, foreign minister Joseph Wu and officials of the Mainland Affairs Council, a body that deals with Taiwan's uneasy relations with mainland China.

Richard previously visited Taiwan in 2015 and 2018, according to Taiwan's semi-official Central News Agency, and heads the Taiwan Friendship group in the French senate.

The four-person senatorial delegation is multipartisan and consists of Richard (who is with President Emmanuel Macron's La République en Marche)  Max Brisson (Les Républicains,) Else Joseph (Les Républicains,) and Olivier Cadic, vice president of the Senate's Foreign Affairs, Defense and Armed Forces Committee (UDI.) 

When the trip was first announced in February, China's ambassador to France Lu Shaye wrote a warning letter asking Richard to cancel the Taiwan visit. 

Just re-elected to the Senate on the « Free and Independent » list, I am delighted to make the first trip of my new mandate to #Taiwan. Thank you for your warm welcome. #constructiveambiguity @Senat @UC_Senat @max_brisson @ElseJOSEPH https://t.co/kZsYNu3v9j

— Olivier Cadic (@OlivierCadic) October 6, 2021

The visit was originally planned for July but postponed due to Covid-10.

When the new date was announced it again provoked strong opposition from the Chinese embassy in Paris, which on the 23rd of September in a comment on its website stated: "There is only one China in the world, no matter what name French senators use to pay an official visit to the Taiwan region."

It also pointed out that the trip "will not only damage China's core interests and undermine China-French relations, but will also damage France's own reputation and interests".

Massive increase of incursions

In its most recent display of sustained military force, China flew fighter jets 149 times toward Taiwan over four days from Friday to Monday.  

White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said during a press briefing that Washington remains "concerned by the People’s Republic of China’s provocative military activity near Taiwan, which is destabilizing risk miscalculations and undermines regional peace and stability".

Meanwhile, Taiwan's defense minister Chiu Kuo-cheng told legislators Wednesday that the situation is the worst he has experienced in 40 years. Chiu was answering questions as the legislature decides whether to approve a special budget for air and naval defense purchases.

'The current situation is really the most dangerous I have seen in my more than 40 years in the military,' Chiu Kuo-cheng, Taiwan's defence minister, warns https://t.co/tC1iF3bAkS

— FT China (@ftchina) October 6, 2021

China and Taiwan split amid civil war in 1949. Today they have extensive trade and investment ties but no official relations. China has increasingly mobilized military, diplomatic and economic pressure to undermine Tsai's independence-leaning administration.

(With AP)