TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Anything that happens to Taiwan would be an international matter, Stefano Stefanini, the former diplomatic adviser to the Italian president, said on Tuesday (July 19) during a Ministry of Foreign Affairs press conference.

Stefanini, who is part of the visiting Atlantic Council delegation, said that he is very happy to bring European perspectives to Taiwan. The Ukraine-Russia war has made Europe more concerned about Taiwan and China than before, he said.

The former official emphasized that there cannot be peace in Europe if there is no peace in East Asia. Peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait are very important to Europe, he said.

Stefanini said he is not against China and Russia's participation in international politics, but he is concerned about whether they can abide by international rules and defend the rules-based order. In a reference to former Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo’s comment that a "Taiwan emergency is a Japanese emergency," Stefanini said that a Taiwan emergency is a global emergency.

Any regional mishap will affect the security of the world, such as North Korea’s nuclear weapons or the war in Ukraine, he said.

The Atlantic Council delegation, led by former U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, has been meeting with top government officials, think tanks, and the business sector, discussing issues including security and economy in the Indo-Pacific region as well as Taiwan’s relationship with the U.S. and Europe. The group is scheduled to depart on July 21.