The European Parliament is preparing to send a delegation to Taiwan to learn about countering disinformation from authoritarian actors. That was the word from German Member of European Parliament Reinhard Bütikofer. He was speaking on Monday during a webinar co-hosted by the Taiwan NextGen Foundation and the Europe-based platform 9DashLine.
The webinar was called Taiwan and Tech Prowess: A Partner in Critical Technologies and explored Taiwan’s strategic importance in the world’s tech industry.
Bütikofer said that democracies around the globe “must have each other’s backs” and cited the European Parliament’s recent vote on the EU-Taiwan report which supports a Bilateral Investment Agreement between the European Union and Taiwan. He said the EU believes that Taiwan will be a valuable partner in creating “resilient supply chains” in the tech industry.
Webinar participants also called for closer cooperation between the EU and Taiwan in countering disinformation from China. Anna Marti, who heads the Taipei-based Global Innovation Hub of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, said “Taiwan has a lot of experience with disinformation coming from China. In Europe we’re very used to disinformation from Russia, but China is still a blindspot.”
The European Parliament’s Special Committee on Foreign Interference in all Democratic Processes in the EU (INGE) is preparing to send a delegation to Taiwan to learn more about how Taiwan counters disinformation from China.