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Another country heard from: French lawmakers announce visit to Taiwan

By Jenny Leonard</p><p>and Ania Nussbaum Washington Post

French lawmakers are planning a visit to Taipei amid increasing tensions with China, according to Taiwan’s foreign minister.

Joseph Wu said in an interview Monday that France’s Senate and National Assembly have shown their backing for his Taiwan and that some lawmakers will visit “very soon.” Taiwan’s government will “check with them to see what kind of additional support we would need,” Wu said.

The delegation is heading to the island Sunday, according to one French official who will be part of the group. Press officers at the French National Assembly and Senate didn’t immediately reply when asked to comment on the plan Monday, a public holiday in France.

Beijing said today it has ended three days of military exercises around Taiwan following a visit by the Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen to the United States last week. China has pledged to bring Taiwan under its control someday, by force if necessary, while Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party asserts Taiwan is an independent nation.

The visit would come after French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview with Les Echos and Politico published Sunday that Europe should avoid getting dragged into any potential confrontation between the United States and China over Taiwan.

“The worse thing would be to think that we Europeans must become followers on this topic and take our cue from the U.S. agenda and a Chinese overreaction,” Macron said.

Macron last week visited Beijing and set out a more conciliatory line on relations with China than the United States has advocated. French lawmakers also visited Taiwan in December 2021.

“The French government has been very vocal in supporting peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. And they also oppose any unilateral change of status quo,” Wu added. “The French government has also been conducting freedom of navigation operations in this part of the world. So all these kinds of actions actually are being supported by Taiwan or appreciated by Taiwan.”