《TAIPEI TIMES》 Taiwan is Italy’s top Indo-Pacific partner: EU parliamentarian

By Liu Tzu-hsuan / Staff reporter

Member of the European Parliament Susanna Ceccardi has said that Taiwan is Italy’s best cooperative partner in the Indo-Pacific region, as it shares the same values as Italy.

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“If there is a choice of country with which to discuss and collaborate on a common economic and security policy in the Indo-Pacific, it is Taiwan,” Ceccardi wrote in Italian in an article published on the Formiche news site on Saturday.

Italy is not changing its “one China” principle, but is defending the “status quo,” she said, adding: “Taiwan must be free to govern itself, with its system of advanced democracy and free market.”

Ceccardi joined a delegation comprising eight members of the European Parliament on a visit to Taiwan and Japan last week — a trip she described as “of historic importance, precisely because it was the first official mission to Taipei.”

The Italian government is considering not renewing its membership in China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which is to expire at the end of the year, Ceccardi said.

The initiative “points to the Chinese monopoly in trade between Asia and Europe,” and Italy needs alternatives to remain competitive, she said.

Italy would continue exchanges and trade with China, “but we cannot be dependent on a single country, a single military power,” she said.

The European nation’s relations with Taiwan have become closer and more frequent exchanges are foreseeable, especially after Taiwan opens a second representative office in Italy, she said, adding that it is scheduled to open in Milan in October.

Italy is to chair the G7 next year, taking over from Japan, and would “be even more of a protagonist,” she said.

While security in the Mediterranean remains a focus of concern, Italy “must also devote more and more attention to ... the Indo-Pacific region,” for economic reasons, as well as safety and values, she said.

The importance of the region was underlined by US President Joe Biden and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni when they met in Washington last week, she said.

“Japan and Taiwan, in fact, are the two most stable and free democracies in the whole region. They share with us many of the core values in which we believe,” she said. “Taiwan is a real, competitive democracy.”

Ceccardi also mentioned her meeting with Minister of Digital Affairs Audrey Tang （唐鳳） in Taiwan, saying that Italy would pursue digitization that serves its citizens by “sharing experiences and know-how with Taiwan.”

With the aim of becoming autonomous in the microchip and semiconductor sector, Italy would soon approve the Italian Chips Act, she said, adding that it could also seek to cooperate with Taiwan, which is “the world leader” in the sector.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES