Taipei, Oct. 18 (CNA) Belgian parliamentarian Els Van Hoof on Wednesday expressed concern over China’s increasing military sorties near Taiwan during a meeting in Taipei with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), adding that her current visit is a show of solidarity with the people of Taiwan.
“We are concerned of the growing crossing of [Taiwan’s] air [defense] identification zone and also the medium line by military vessels and jets” by the Chinese military, said Van Hoof, who chairs the Belgian Chamber of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee.
“The importance of this parliamentarian visit cannot be underestimated” as it shows that “Taiwan is not standing alone against these threats,” she added.
According to Van Hoof, Taiwan has been a recurring topic in her committee’s recent debates, and members of the committee across party lines have shown solidarity with Taiwanese while condemning China’s unilateral aggressive actions, without elaborating.
The lawmaker noted that the friendship between Taiwan and Belgium is built on shared values, such as democracy, human rights and the rule of law, as well as thriving trade and academic exchanges.
She expressed confidence that both democracies will continue to further deepen that friendship in the future.
Tsai, speaking in the same vein, said bilateral ties between the two sides based on shared values had yielded “fruitful results,” especially in joint projects on offshore wind power and semiconductor development.
Looking ahead, Taiwan looks forward to “establish[ing] institutionalized cooperation in complementary areas such as cybersecurity with the Belgian federal government,” she said, adding that it would “create win-win solutions for both sides.”
Van Hoof, a Belgian parliamentarian from the Christian Democrats and Flemish party, arrived in Taiwan on Sunday for a visit from Oct. 15-20 with a delegation that includes seven other members of the Belgian parliament.
She last visited Taiwan in November 2022 as co-chair of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, an unofficial organization that includes more than 200 lawmakers from 27 legislatures.
