Representative Katharine Chang hosted a Christmas party for the British-Taiwanese All-Party Parliamentary Group at the Terrace Room of the Royal Horseguards & One Whitehall Place at 7 pm on 8th December 2008. Twenty-three members of the Group attended the party.
Representative Chang thanked the Group for its strong support and friendship towards the Republic of China （Taiwan） over the past years in her opening remarks. Indeed, the parliamentarians of this group have been the staunchest of supporters and sincerest of friends to Taiwan. Representative Chang expressed her wishes to continue to work closely with the Group to promote bilateral relations between Taiwan and the UK. She also pointed out that the past year had seen positive developments in the Taiwan-UK relations, with significant progress in fields such as cultural and educational exchanges, trade and investment, and bilateral visits. This May, two Co-chairs of the Group led a delegation of nine UK parliamentarians to congratulate the president and the vice president of the Republic of China at the inauguration ceremony. The visit has proven to be beneficial in enhancing mutual understanding between Taiwan and the UK.
Sir Nicholas Winterton MP, one of the two Co-chairs of the Group, later thanked Representative Chang for hosting the party on behalf of the Group. He emphasized that all members of the Group had been united in their support of Taiwan. Having praised Taiwan for upholding and safeguarding the universal principles of democracy and freedom, he commended democratic Taiwan as the best example, a benchmark, for other Asian countries to follow.
The Lord Faulkner of Worcester, the other Co-chair of the Group, once again thanked Representative Chang for having hosted the event for the Group before the party came to an end. He stated that all members of the Group would continue to support Taiwan in the future and wished the Republic of China a prosperous future. He also looked forward to seeing a stronger and more prosperous bilateral relationship between Taiwan and the UK in the upcoming year.
The party, which lasted for two and half hours, was one of friendship and a mutual passion for the further development of Taiwan-UK relations.
