Self-help Taiwan's best protection: European lawmakers

Taipei, Feb. 7 (CNA) Taiwan must first strengthen its own national defense to deter a potential invasion by China as cross-strait tensions continue to rise, multiple European lawmakers told CNA on Friday.

In an interview in Taipei marking the conclusion of an eight-member European parliamentary delegation's six-day visit to Taiwan, the lawmakers urged Taipei to remain vigilant and increase defense spending.

"All those who claim they want to protect you actually want to conquer you," Ukrainian lawmaker Serhii Soboliev said when asked what lessons Taiwan could draw from Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Soboliev described the Kremlin as a "new fascist-Nazi regime" that justified its aggression by claiming to protect "so-called Russian-speaking populations," echoing how Nazi Germany once invoked the protection of ethnic Germans to legitimize its expansion.

"And what is the reality of this 'protection'? Completely destroyed citizens," he said.

In addition to calling on Taiwan to prevent third parties from transferring sensitive technologies to Russia, Soboliev stressed the urgency of boosting defense spending sooner rather than later.

"Before the war, we even tried to cut our defense expenditures to below 5 percent. Now we spend more than 50 percent," he said. "Everyone must understand that in this world, you have to protect yourself first -- only then will others protect you."

Aleksi Jäntti, a Finnish lawmaker visiting Taiwan for the first time, said the delegation was "puzzled" by arguments that cooperation could appease an aggressor, citing late former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, who once said, "Every lesson of history tells us that the greater risk lies in appeasement."

Jäntti also warned that Taiwanese society should be more alert to the information it is exposed to -- including Chinese television dramas and platforms such as TikTok -- which he said could be exploited as tools of influence through algorithms.

German lawmaker Till Steffen said a functioning constitutional court is also crucial to national resilience.

After meeting with both the ruling Democratic Progressive Party and the main opposition Kuomintang, Steffen said he realized that political consensus can be difficult to achieve, but solutions must still be found -- "perhaps behind closed doors."

Since the terms of seven of its 15 justices expired in late October 2024, Taiwan's Constitutional Court has been unable to fill the vacancies due to a political stalemate between President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) and the Legislature.

Meanwhile, Lithuanian lawmaker Žygimantas Pavilionis, who had visited Taiwan twice before, said cross-strait tensions appeared to have intensified since his last trip two and a half years ago.

He emphasized the importance of achieving domestic consensus on defense spending, describing it as an "existential issue" for Taiwan.

"Unity is the key," Pavilionis said, warning that common adversaries of Taiwan and European democracies would exploit internal divisions.