Taiwan's Top Lawmaker Reminds French President Of 'Liberty, Equality, Fraternity'

A "puzzled" top lawmaker of Taiwan has reminded French President Emmanuel Macron of the European nation's official motto after he suggested that Europe take an independent stance from the US about the Taiwan issue.

"Are 'liberte, egalite, fraternite' out of fashion?" You Si-kun, the speaker of Taiwan's parliament, locally known as Legislative Yuan, wrote on Facebook on Tuesday night.

He was referring to the official French motto of "liberty, equality, fraternity" after Macron insisted on Europe's independence from the US in its Taiwan policy.

However, You asked Macron: "Is it OK just to ignore this once it's part of the constitution? Or can advanced democratic countries ignore the lives and deaths of people in other countries?"

He added: "The actions of President Macron, a leading international democracy, leave me puzzled."

You is one of the founders of Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party which declared incumbent Vice President Lai Ching-te as its presidential candidate on Wednesday for the next January elections.

After his three-day visit to China, Macron said Europe must reduce its dependence on the US in its China-Taiwan policy.

The French leader stressed Europe's strategic autonomy and added that it would be risky for the continent to find itself dragged into crises that are not its own.

For Macron, strategic autonomy is to admit disagreement with the US but to have a European strategy on Ukraine, China, or the sanctions.

"The worst thing to think would be that we Europeans must be followers on this topic, and adapt ourselves to the American pace and Chinese overreaction," he said.

Macron also added that "the key to depending less on the Americans is to strengthen our defense industry and agree on common standards."

China considers Taiwan as its "breakaway province" while Taipei has insisted on its independence since 1949, enjoying full diplomatic relations with 13 nations.

Meanwhile, official figures revealed that the number of Taiwanese from the island nation working in mainland China fell for the eighth consecutive year in 2021.

According to Taiwan's Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, 163,000 Taiwanese worked in China in 2021, accounting for 51.1% of the 319,000 Taiwanese who worked overseas that year, Focus Daily news website reported.

"The number 163,000 represented both a decrease of 76,000 people (19.2%) from 2019 and 261,000 people (61.6%) from 2011," the government agency said.

Taiwan, home to around 24 million people, sits across Taiwan Strait, south of mainland China.

The waters that divide mainland from the island nation have seen tensions heightened as official exchanges between the US and Taiwan have increased.

China launched mass military drills after US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy hosted Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen for a meeting in California last week during her 10-day trip to Central America with stopovers in the US.

"As President, I represent my country to the world. Whether I visit friendly countries, stop in the United States, or communicate with international friends, it is not only a long-term practice, but also the common expectation of the people of Taiwan. However, China uses this to launch military exercises, causing instability in the Taiwan Strait and the region. This is not the responsible attitude of a major country in the region," Tsai said in a statement on Tuesday.

Washington held a meeting on Monday with officials from Taiwan to discuss "expanding Taiwan's participation in the United Nations system and in other international forums," a US State Department statement said. -