A delegation of French senators led by Chairman of the French Senate's Taiwan Friendship Group Alain Richard has left Taiwan after a five-day visit.
During the visit, the French senators met with President Tsai Ing-wen, Premier Su Tseng-chang, Legislature President Yu Shyi-kun, and officials including Foreign Minister Joseph Wu.
A highlight of the visit came during the delegation’s meeting with President Tsai. During that meeting, Tsai conferred the Taiwanese civilian honor Order of Propitious Clouds with Special Grand Cordon on Richard in recognition of his work promoting Franco-Taiwanese ties.
France24 also reports that Richard referred to Taiwan as a “country” during the meeting with Tsai. That choice of words is likely to further anger Beijing, which was already upset that the visit took place in the first place, and which issued repeated warnings against the visit through its embassy in Paris.