TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Vice President William Lai (賴清德) praised the visiting French Senate delegation for demonstrating France’s support for a democratic Taiwan during a meeting with the group on Wednesday (Sept. 8).

Lai said the delegation's visit also conveys an important message to the international community. The Vice President said that countries which value democracy, freedom, and human rights must unite and cooperate in order to prevent the expansion of totalitarianism, CNA reported.

He noted that this was the fourth French delegation since the Chairman of the French Senate’s Taiwan Friendship Group, Alain Richard, visited in 2021. That number of delegations from France in a single year is unprecedented.

The group in Taiwan is led by Senators Cyril Pellevat, vice president of the European Affairs Committee, and Olivier Cadic, vice president of the Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Armed Forces Committee.

Lai noted that last May the French Senate voted unanimously to support Taiwan's participation in international organizations. In November, the French National Assembly also voted overwhelmingly to support Taiwan's participation in international organizations, he said.

The vice president pointed out that last month, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it opposed China's attempt to provoke cross-strait tensions under the pretext of U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, per CNA. It also blasted China's attempts to change the status quo and demanded that Beijing abide by the international order.

France's statements and proposals on peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific are beneficial in maintaining the regional status quo, said Lai. The vice president also expressed his hopes that the French parliament and government will continue to pay attention to regional security issues in the Indo-Pacific.

Lai said that bilateral exchanges between Taiwan and France in the fields of economics and trade, science and technology, culture, and education have become increasingly close. In the post-pandemic era, the world needs a new and trustworthy supply chain and Taiwan is willing to play an active and positive role in this regard, he said.

Taiwan is also eager to cooperate with the French government to form links in a new industrial chain which will provide the world's economy with a stable means of developing towards a new future, the vice president added.