British lawmaker praises Taiwan in Tsai meeting

• By Liu Tzu-hsuan / Staff reporter

Visiting British lawmaker Sonny Leong (梁辛尼) yesterday hailed Taiwan’s entrepreneurial spirit and the vibrant economy supported by the nation’s political stability during a meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).

Leong — cochair of the Labor Friends of Taiwan and shadow spokesperson for business and trade in the British House of Lords, the upper house of the British Parliament — is leading a delegation of seven Labor Party members who arrived on Saturday and are to stay until Friday .

Under the leadership of Tsai and the Democratic Progressive Party, Taiwan has demonstrated fascinating and inspiring energy, drive and economic success in the past eight years, Leong said.

The achievements showed that political stability encourages long-term strategic thinking and investment, which the Labor Party is closely watching as it is vital in a highly competitive and rapidly changing global environment, he said.

Leong said he is particularly interested in Taiwan’s small and medium-sized enterprises, which account for about 98 percent of the total number of businesses in the nation.

Learning more about the role these ventures play in Taiwan’s economy is one of the focuses of the delegation’s visit, he said, adding that small and medium-sized enterprises are a crucial part of building an agile and forward-looking economy.

Leong made a special mention of Kavalan, a whiskey distillery owned by King Car Group, saying that the brand impressively hit the world stage in less than 20 years.

The company’s world-class products are the result of learning from other countries, including the experience of Scotland and the expertise of Japanese distillers working in a similar climate, as well as adapting to the particular environmental conditions of Taiwan, while injecting the “Taiwanese entrepreneurial spirit,” he said.

Leong wished Taiwan success under the incoming administration of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), ​​adding that the delegation hoped to continue to strengthen commercial, educational and cultural ties between Taiwan and the UK.

Tsai welcomed the delegation, saying that their visit would “enhance mutual understanding between Taiwan and the UK and promote even closer cooperation going forward.”

Collaboration between Taipei and London has yielded fruitful results in business, science and technology, as well as offshore wind power in the past few years, she said.

Tsai said she is confident that ties between the two sides would continue to develop with closer cooperation in digital trade, investment, renewable energy and net zero carbon emissions.

She also thanked the British Parliament for voicing concerns about the situation in the Taiwan Strait, such as in reports published by the UK House of Commons Defense Committee and Foreign Affairs Committee.

The delegation’s itinerary also includes attending banquets hosted by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) and Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), as well as visiting the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the National Development Council, the National Science and Technology Commission, the Ministry of Education and the Mainland Affairs Council, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

By learning firsthand about Taiwan’s flourishing democratic society during the trip, the delegation would help strengthen the friendship and cooperation between Taiwan and the UK, it said.