GENEVA (AP) – The lower house of Switzerland’s parliament has voted to cement ties with Taiwan’s legislature, a move that could further anger China following recent visits to the island by Western lawmakers.
The Swiss National Council late Tuesday voted 97 to 87, with eight abstentions, to order parliamentary offices to “strengthen” ties with the Taiwanese legislature to help promote democracy, peace and stability and promote economic, political, scientific and economic development to intensify cultural exchange between Switzerland. and Taiwan.
Left-leaning parties generally supported the measure, while right-wing and mainstream free-market parties opposed it. The procedure affected only the House of Representatives; According to the press service of the Swiss Parliament, the upper house – the Council of States – does not necessarily have to queue for it to come into force.
The case will now be referred to the Foreign Affairs Committee to consider how the measure can be implemented.
If implemented, the Swiss gesture would be a new tactic by foreign lawmakers to support the island’s self-governing democracy in the face of intimidation by the ruling mainland Communist Party, which has claimed Taiwan as part of its territory and threatened an invasion.
This measure was supported by Socialist MP Fabian Molina, who led a parliamentary delegation In February to Taiwan, where she met with President Tsai Ing-wen.
In a telephone interview, Molina said the vote shows Switzerland’s supremacy – even with a powerhouse like China.
“Switzerland has very close political ties with China – I would say sometimes very close – because they also prevent us from speaking out against some human rights violations or some issues,” Molina said. However, he conceded that the vote “does not mean that we are completely changing our relationship with China”.
Similar delegations were also attended by MPs from other countries, including Germany and the United States. They all come from countries whose governments maintain diplomatic ties with Beijing rather than Taiwan, which considers the mainland part of its territory.
In an email, the Swiss Foreign Ministry said that Switzerland adheres to the “one China” policy, which “precludes formal diplomatic relations with authorities in Taiwan. However, an exchange on a technical level is possible and desirable.”
Liu Yuen, spokesman for the Chinese diplomatic mission in Geneva, said the “one China” principle is the “prevailing consensus” in the international community and the “foundation” of China’s diplomatic relations with other countries.
Recently, China has intensified its campaign to isolate Taiwan by shutting down some of the island’s few remaining foreign diplomatic partners, most of whom are poor and live in Africa and Latin America.
In March, Honduras became the newest government Breaking off ties with Taiwan and transferring official recognition to Beijing.
2023-05-21 19:13:03
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