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EU lawmaker
reiterates support for DPP chief
By Lee Hsin-fang / Staff Reporter
Member of the European Parliament Hans van Baalen, the vice chairman of the
body¡¦s Taiwan Friendship Group, said on Sunday he would vote for Democratic
Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (½²^¤å) if he were
Taiwanese.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs denies that van Baalen originally made such a
statement, but he said he stood by his statements and would take full
responsibility for his words ¡X adding that the ministry should as well.
In a press release on Thursday last week titled ¡§Van Baalen¡¦s personal written
statement to clarify on the misreport,¡¨ the ministry said a report by the
Liberty Times (the Taipei Times¡¦ sister newspaper) of van Baalen¡¦s declaration
that he would vote for Tsai was false.
However, when asked by Taiwanese reporters at a Liberal International press
conference in the Philippines on Sunday, van Baalen said if he were Taiwanese,
he would vote for Tsai and DPP legislators next year because he believed in and
supported liberty.
Van Baalen added that regardless of the outcome of the presidential election
next January, he would still be a friend of Taiwan.
Commenting on van Baalen¡¦s reiteration, ministry spokesman James Chang (³¹p¥)
said on Sunday that colleagues at the ministry had shown van Baalen what had
been printed on Thursday after the -ministry saw it in the Liberty Times.
Van Baalen then penned a response and agreed to let the ministry publicly
announce his response, Chang said.
The ministry merely assisted van Baalen to clarify the matter and thanked
international friends of Taiwan for not interfering in the elections, Chang
said.
TRANSLATED BY JAKE CHUNG, STAFF WRITER
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