Taiwan's Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung Visits Swiss Parliament; Friendship Group Chair Urges Pragmatic Deepening of Ties

(CNA, by Yang Yao-ju, Taipei, 20th) Fabian Molina, co-chair of the Swiss Parliament's "Friends of Taiwan" group, revealed on social media that he met with Taiwan's visiting Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung at the Federal Palace of Switzerland on the 18th. He pledged to work towards deepening Taiwan-Switzerland relations, emphasizing that "the future of Taiwan cannot be decided without the Taiwanese people."

Lin Chia-lung traveled to Bern for the visit immediately after concluding his itinerary of side events for the World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva, Switzerland.

Fabian Molina, co-chair of the Swiss Parliament's "Friends of Taiwan" group, stated in a Facebook post on the 19th local time that on the 18th, he hosted Lin Chia-lung and a cross-party delegation from the Legislative Yuan at the Federal Palace. The delegation included KMT legislator Liao Wei-hsiang, DPP legislator Kuo Yu-ching, and TPP legislator Chen Chao-tzu.

Molina pointed out that Switzerland and Taiwan share common values, are both vibrant democracies with innovative economies, and already have a substantial trade volume. The relationship between Taiwan and Switzerland should be continuously deepened in a pragmatic manner, which was a key point of their discussion, and he will continue to strive for this.

Molina mentioned that after US President Donald Trump's visit to China last week, and amidst currently rising geopolitical tensions, Switzerland must clearly state that political differences should be resolved through dialogue and by peaceful means. "The future of Taiwan cannot be decided without the Taiwanese people."

The photo released by Molina showed, in addition to Lin Chia-lung and the three legislators from Taiwan, Swiss MP and friendship group member Marianne Binder Keller (upper house), Swiss MP and friendship group member Laurent Wehrli (lower house), Taiwan's Representative to Switzerland Wang Shi-wei, and Director-General of the Department of European Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Huang Chun-yao.