“China strongly condemns and strongly opposes it.”
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Richard, who heads the Taiwanese Friendship Group of the French Senate, admitted that how to call Taiwanese representative offices was a tricky one.
“It’s a nice diplomatic question, but what strikes me is that the name of this island and this country is Taiwan,” he said in English.
“So there’s no point in trying, you know, to stop this country from using its name.”
He added in French that the word “country”, in French, means first of all a geographical space and not a political one.
international community is increasingly concerned about rising job function email database tensions between Taiwan and China after nearly 150 Chinese planes first flew over the air defense zone over a four-day period. since last Friday. Read more
Taiwan has lived under threat of a Chinese invasion since the defeated ROC government fled to the island in 1949 after losing a civil war with the Communists. No peace or armistice treaty has ever been signed.
France only has official relations with Beijing, not Taipei, but maintains a relatively large de facto embassy on the island, staffed with diplomats.
Richard, who was French Minister of Defense from 1997 to 2002 under President Jacques Chirac, has already visited Taiwan twice.
He is accompanied by three other French senators on his visit, despite warnings against it this year by the Chinese Embassy in Paris after the trip was first raised.