A delegation led by Michał Kamiński, Vice President of the Polish Senate, paid a visit to Taiwan and met with President Tsai Ing-wen. President Tsai expressed gratitude for the strong support from the Polish Parliament to Taiwan and hoped to deepen cooperation to create a new milestone in the Taiwan-Poland relationship.
President Tsai Ing-wen met with the “Visit by the Polish Senate Vice President Michał Kamiński delegation” today and stated that this is the first visit by a Polish Parliament delegation to Taiwan since the midterm election in mid-October last year. The delegation includes six bipartisan members of the “Polish-Taiwanese Parliamentary Group,” which holds significant meaning for advancing Taiwan-Poland relations. He thanked everyone for their support for Taiwan through actions.
President Tsai noted that Vice President Kamiński has visited Taiwan for the third time, showing long-term attention to cross-strait issues and staunch opposition to authoritarianism, demonstrating admirable support for democratic Taiwan. With Vice President Kamiński’s support, the Polish Senate’s Foreign and European Union Affairs Committee and Health Committee passed a resolution in July 2022 supporting Taiwan’s participation in the World Health Organization (WHO).
He mentioned that with the assistance of Chairman Krzysztof Truskolaski of the “Polish-Taiwanese Parliamentary Group,” joint statements supporting Taiwan’s international participation have been issued by the group in both last year and this year. He sincerely thanked the Polish Parliament for its strong bipartisan support for Taiwan, showcasing Taiwan’s active contributions to the world and determination.
President Tsai emphasized that both Taiwan and Poland have gone through journeys of resisting authoritarianism and seeking democracy and freedom. Now, they face the challenge of authoritarian expansion together. As a responsible member of the international community, Taiwan is committed to maintaining regional peace and stability and will continue deepening its partnership with Poland to safeguard the values of democracy and freedom.
President Tsai mentioned Vice President Lai Ching-te’s visit to Poland in March this year as Vice President-elect. He expressed appreciation to Vice President Kamiński and the distinguished guests for attending the luncheon to enhance exchanges between Taiwan and Poland. Last month, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu led representatives from nearly 30 companies to visit Poland and participate in the “Enhancing Taiwan-Poland Economic Cooperation Forum,” announcing the enhancement of bilateral commercial exchanges through code-sharing flights between Taiwan and Poland. In the future, Taiwan and Poland will continue to deepen cooperation to create new milestones in bilateral relations.
Vice President Kamiński stated in his address that there is a beautiful Polish word “solidarność” (meaning solidarity) which is a gift from Poland to the world. The delegation represents parliament members elected through free democratic elections and the Polish people coming together with representatives elected in the same manner in Taiwan, uniting not only the most important common ground between Poland and Taiwan but also the friendship and values shared by both sides, with the ultimate goal of maintaining world stability and peace. In other words, Poland and Taiwan both aspire to core values based on peace and order.
Kamiński pointed out that because Poland and Taiwan share universal values such as freedom, democracy, peace, the two sides are not only engaged in political cooperation but also in other areas such as economic, trade, and cultural cooperation, which are becoming increasingly closer. Poland welcomes investments from Taiwan and believes that there will be even closer connections between the two sides in the future. Moreover, Taiwan and Poland will provide flight services through code-sharing flights, marking an important milestone in Taiwan-Poland relations.