EU lawmakers sanctioned by Beijing are due to visit Taiwan

TAIPEI — A group of eight European lawmakers, two of them sanctioned by Beijing, are set to arrive in Taiwan on Tuesday amid renewed geopolitical uncertainties after the Chinese ruling party’s top congress.

Trade, investment and technology are the focus for the delegation, which includes Reinhard Bütikofer, chair of the European Parliament’s delegation on relations with China, as well as Sjoerd Sjoerdsma, a Dutch lawmaker. Both of them have been on Beijing’s blacklist since early last year.

“This is a visit with very practical ambitions. We will return from Taiwan with an even clearer picture of what needs to be done in our respective legislatures, and we won’t rest until we have achieved them,” Bütikofer, who is leading the delegation from the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, told POLITICO.

Among the Taiwanese officials they will meet with will be President Tsai Ing-wen.

European concern over Taiwan has grown in recent months after Beijing launched military exercises around the island this summer when U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the self-ruling island against the warning of Beijing. China’s strategic collaboration with Russia has also deepened European skepticism as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine continues.

Beijing has also threatened to “reunify” Taiwan by force if necessary, with Chinese President Xi Jinping renewing the stance during the just-concluded Communist Party congress.

Ukrainian parliamentarian Mykola Kniazhytskyi, another member of the group visiting Taipei, sees similarities between his country and Taiwan.

“Ukraine and Taiwan have a lot in common,” he said. “World democracies — and especially Germany — struggle to learn lessons of the past. I will be emphasizing how dependency on Russia landed us and the world in a major crisis. We are sleepwalking into the same thing with Taiwan,” Kniazhytskyi said.

German, Czech, British, Belgian and Kosovan lawmakers also will be on the trip, as Taiwan is keen to pursue parliamentary diplomacy while most Western officials refrain from administration-level visits, out of their “one China” pledges with Beijing.

The EU’s foreign policy arm, the European External Action Service, recently issued a new internal document calling on member countries to work on “de-escalation and dissuasion” with Beijing, in the hopes of avoiding a Chinese military invasion of Taiwan. Part of the worry stems from the fact that Taiwan accounts for nearly 90 percent of the most advanced microchips supplied to European companies and manufacturers.

U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, have in recent weeks warned that China is “speeding up” plans for the use of force against Taiwan “on a much faster timeline” than previously expected. Until recently, Washington’s guess was that such a scenario wouldn’t happen before 2027.

“So when we talk about the 2027 window, in my mind, that has to be a 2022 window or potentially a 2023 window. I can’t rule that out,” top U.S. Navy officer Adm. Michael Gilday said earlier this month.