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Taiwan refutes French presidential candidate's 'Taiwan part of China' remark

ROC Central News Agency

02/15/2022 02:34 PM

Taipei, Feb. 15 (CNA) Taiwan's government refuted on Tuesday a recent statement made by a French presidential candidate that Taiwan is part of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and should follow the "one country, two systems" arrangement proposed by Beijing.

Calling the statement made by Fabien Roussel of the French Communist Party (PCF) during a TV program false, Remus Chen (陳立國), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' (MOFA) Department of European Affairs, said since the PRC was founded in 1949, "it has never governed Taiwan for one single day."

Chen stressed that the so-called "one country, two systems" concept is unacceptable to the people of Taiwan.

"Only Taiwan's popularly elected government can represent its people internationally and develop external relations," he said.

"One country, two systems" was proposed by Beijing as an arrangement for Taipei to become part of the PRC while retaining its autonomy in several areas, which it has implemented in its two special administrative regions, Hong Kong and Macao.

Taiwan has repeatedly said it will not accept the formula.

"Taiwan belongs to China," Roussel told the host of France 5's political talk show, C Dans L'air, on Feb. 13 when asked to comment on the cross-strait issue.

France, like most countries in the world including the United States as well as the European Union, does not officially recognize Taiwan's independence, though it maintains unofficial bilateral relations with Taipei, Roussel argued.

He said Paris should therefore respect Beijing's "one country, two systems" proposal for Taipei.

If elected as president, Roussel said he would make sure to maintain dialogue with China while upholding the rights of the Taiwanese people.

Roussel's comments were criticized by many French politicians, including Nathalie Loiseau, chair of the sub-committee on Security and Defense in the European Parliament, who accused Roussel of comparing Taiwan with Hong Kong and "mixing everything up" in a tweet.

Eric Bothorel, vice chairman of the France-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group, tweeted that Taiwan is a sovereign state and expressed well wishes to Taiwan's democracy, people and president, Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).

(By Tseng Ting-hsuan and Joseph Yeh)

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