March 6, 2018
No. 032
A Belgian delegation consisting of Eric Massin, a member of the Chamber of Representatives, and four members of regional parliaments associated with the Parti Socialiste are in Taiwan at the invitation of the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from March 6 to 10, 2018.
During its stay, the delegation will meet with Vice President Chen Chien-jen and call at the Legislative Yuan, the National Development Council, the Environmental Protection Administration, the Mainland Affairs Council, and the Gender Equality Committee. Members will also attend a breakfast in their honor hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The delegation will visit such cultural and economic icons as Hsinchu Science Park, the Industrial Technology Research Institute, the National Palace Museum, Taipei 101, and Taipei Rapid Transit Corp. This will give members insight into Taiwan’s political and economic developments, the current status of cross-strait relations and Asia-Pacific security, as well as major policies including the 5+2 Innovative Industries initiative.
The Belgian Chamber of Representatives has long been friendly toward Taiwan. In November 2015, it passed a resolution in support of Taiwan’s call for regional peace, cross-strait dialogue, the signing of a bilateral investment agreement and economic cooperation agreement between Taiwan and the European Union, and Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations.
While all of the delegation members are Parti Socialiste members, MP Massin is also Vice President of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives’ Social Affairs Committee. The rest hail from regional parliaments, and include Julien Uyttendaele and Simone Susskind, both members of the Brussels Regional Parliament; and Virginie Gonzalez and Véronique Bonni, both members of the Parliament of Wallonia.
The Parti Socialiste is the second-largest party in the Belgian Chamber of Representatives, and a member of the governing coalition in the Brussels Regional Parliament. This visit of the delegation is instrumental to facilitating Belgian understanding of, and increasing Belgian parliamentary support for, Taiwan at the national and local levels. (E)