French Senate delegation seeks deeper trade, investment ties with Taiwan

• French Senate Vice President Alain Richard on 26 Apr expressed hope of strengthening trade and investment cooperation with Taiwan, during a meeting with Premier Chen Chien-jen in Taipei.
• Richard, who also chairs the French Senate’s Taiwan Friendship Group, said there should be “little difficulty” for the two countries in developing commercial exchanges and investment cooperation, given Taiwan’s transparent and secure environment.
• He noted that he and his delegation met with Economics Minister Wang Mei-hua on 25 Apr to discuss further trade and economic cooperation between Taiwan and France.
• Meanwhile, Chen expressed hope that the two countries would deepen exchanges in talent incubation and research and development, especially in the areas of semiconductors, space technology and artificial intelligence.
• The group’s visit comes weeks after French President Emmanuel Macron suggested in an interview that Europe should avoid being dragged into a crisis between the United States and China over Taiwan.
• Richard, speaking with local media on 24 Apr at the Legislature, did not comment on Macron’s remarks, but he noted that France continued to oppose any unilateral change to the status quo of the Taiwan Strait by force.

External Link : https://focustaiwan.tw/politics/202304260021