New Legislature forms French, Polish parliamentary friendship groups

Taipei, Feb. 19 (CNA) Taiwan's new Legislative Yuan on Monday formed two parliamentary friendship groups to promote closer exchanges with France and Poland via their respective lawmaking bodies.

Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lin Chu-yin (林楚茵), who will head both groups, said at the inauguration ceremony that Taiwan's Legislature has been engaged in wide-ranging exchanges with the French and Polish parliaments for the past four years.

The establishment of the France Inter-Parliamentary Amity Association and the Taiwan-Poland Inter-Parliamentary Amity Association in the new Legislature is aimed at continuing those exchanges, Lin said.

Taiwan's 11th Legislature was sworn in earlier this month, in the wake of the country's general elections on Jan. 13.

The new Legislature will continue to promote parliamentarian diplomacy and stand alongside the world's democracies, Lin said, citing President Tsai Ing-wen's (蔡英文) repeated statement that Taiwan is now a country "of the world" as its international engagement has grown during her eight years as president.

Deputy Foreign Minister Kelly Hsieh (謝武樵), who attended the inauguration of the parliamentary friendship groups on behalf of the executive branch of the government, said Poland and France are two important members of the European Union.

They are also Taiwan's close trading partners and, more importantly, are like-minded democracies, he said.

Hsieh noted that two former legislative speakers -- Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) and You Si-kun (游錫堃) -- had visited Poland during their tenure, while former Deputy Speaker Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) had visited France.

The French and Polish parliaments have passed a series of resolutions in support of Taiwan's efforts to gain greater international participation and in condemnation of China's attempts to alter the status quo across the Taiwan Strait by means of tactics such as military drills, Hsieh noted.

The establishment of the two parliamentary groups was also lauded by the French and Polish representatives to Taiwan, Franck Paris and Cyryl Kozaczewski, who attended Monday's ceremony.

Kozaczewski said that a nation's parliament is the "backbone of its democracy," and he was happy to see the establishment of more groups aimed at promoting smooth cooperation between parliaments.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Poland and Taiwan were working closely with each other, he said, noting that Taiwan had donated face masks to Poland, while the latter donated vaccines to Taiwan.

"We would not be able to support each other without the cooperation of parliamentarians," said Kozaczewski, who heads the Polish Office in Taipei.

Meanwhile, Paris, who is director of French Office in Taipei, said the formation of the amity groups was a demonstration of the friendship between the parliaments in democracies and between the communities.

The friendship groups will also help to highlight the importance of Taiwan's democracy among other strong democracies like Poland and France, he said.

Taiwan's presidential and legislative elections in January "impressed the world," Paris said. "Now it is important to make this positive image of Taiwan last as long as possible."

Paris said his office will continue to encourage French lawmakers to visit Taiwan, and vice versa, to promote closer bilateral exchanges and cooperation.

Forming parliamentarian friendship group with foreign countries, especially with countries that do not have official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, has been a routine practice in Taiwan's Legislature.

The new Legislature, which has a four-year term until 2028, is expected to establish another parliamentarian friendship group on Tuesday to promote exchanges with ASEAN countries.