French MP denounces China’s threat of force against Taiwan

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/01/03
By: Tzeng Yi-shiuan and Yu-Chen Chung 

Paris, Jan. 2 (CNA) French parliamentarian Jean-François Cesarini said Wednesday that China’s desire to go to war with Taiwan is unacceptable, referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) warning the previous day that China reserves the right to use force against Taiwan.

“France is a friend of China and also of Taiwan,” Cesarini said in a tweet. “Yet China’s call for a war is not acceptable. There is nothing to be gained by war, either on the international or economic front. The dialogue proposed by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) shows true wisdom.”

Cesarini, a member of the French National Assembly and chairman of a parliamentary Taiwan-France Friendship Group, also tweeted part of Tsai’s New Year’s Day address, in which she laid out “four musts” as a framework for moving relations between Taiwan and China in a positive direction.

Tsai said China must face the reality of the existence of the Republic of China (Taiwan); must respect the commitment of the 23 million people of Taiwan to freedom and democracy; and must handle cross-strait differences peacefully, on a basis of equality; and that it must be governments or government-authorized agencies that engage in cross-strait negotiations.    [FULL  STORY]