On 12 February, Representative Lin and British-Taiwanese All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) Co-Chair Lord Rogan welcomed UK parliamentarians to a reception celebrating the Lunar New Year and renewing the Taiwan-UK friendship. The event was held at the Attlee Room at the House of Lords and attended by around 50 parliamentarians. House of Lords Government Whip Lord Bethell, UK Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Taiwan Lord Faulkner of Worcester, Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons Nigel Evans MP, former Lord Speaker Baroness D’Souza, 1922 Committee Chairman Sir Graham Brady as well as former Minister of State of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Deputy Lord Speaker Baroness Anelay.

In his opening remarks, Representative Lin thanked the parliamentarians for their longstanding promotion of Taiwan-UK relations,their staunch support for Taiwan’s international participation and their congratulations on Taiwan’s successful presidential and parliamentary elections. Representative Lin expressed appreciation to UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab for his message of congratulations on 11 January 2020, and pointed out this official statement demonstrates the UK government cherishes its close economic partnership with Taiwan. Representative Lin highlighted the progress of bilateral relations in recent years, citing rising bilateral trade and investment as well as Taiwan ranking as one of the UK’s fastest growing export markets. He also expressed gratitude to the parliamentarians for expressing their support of Taiwan’s participation in the World Health Organization (WHO) and concern over the global health body’s incorrect designation of Taiwan as part of China in its situation reports on the outbreak of coronavirus, which have provided misleading information that has not only harmed the rights and interests of Taiwanese people but also hindered global disease prevention efforts.

In his speech, Lord Faulkner stressed the strength of the Taiwan-UK relationship, citing UK Minister of State for the Commonwealth and the United Nations Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon’s answers to questions in the House of Lords on many aspects of Taiwan-UK relations. Nigel Evans MP offered his personal congratulations to President Tsai Ing-wen on her election victory and expressed his pleasure at the progress in the Taiwan-UK relationship in recent years. Looking to the future, he stressed that as the UK actively seeks to build trade relations with countries around the world following its departure from the EU, he believes there will be further opportunities to further strengthen the Taiwan-UK relationship. Baroness D’Souza pointed out the increasing threat of China’s authoritarianism to democracies around the world, and expressed hope that the UK and other democratic countries take more action in the future to support Taiwan.