(Original sources: Twitter and Facebook)

In April, parliamentarians and officials from the UK and EU expressed their gratitude to Taiwan for its donation of face masks amid the coronavirus outbreak. In a video message posted on 13 April, Deputy Speaker of the UK House of Commons and British-Taiwanese All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) Honourary President Nigel Evans MP thanked Taiwan’s government and people for the donation of face masks to help those on the front-line in the NHS and other personnel. The Deputy Speaker said that every Thursday night the people of Britain come to their doorsteps to clap for the NHS and front-line services, and in this spirit, applauded the people and government of Taiwan to show his appreciation. Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords and APPG Co-Chair Lord Rogan and fellow Co-Chair Martin Vickers also conveyed their gratitude in video messages, stressing “we must all come together in this time of crisis” and that the friendship between the British people and the Taiwanese is strong and growing stronger. UK Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Taiwan Lord Faulkner of Worcester echoed this message on Twitter, stating “we look forward to continuing collaboration with Taiwan on equipment and exchange of experiences to tackle Covid-19. We shall get through this together.” Minister of State for Trade Policy in the Department for International Trade (DIT) Greg Hands, Minister for Small Business, Consumers and Labour Markets Paul Scully and Her Majesty's Trade Commissioner for Asia Pacific Natalie Black also publicly thanked Taiwan for the donation.

APPG Vice-Chair Andrew Rosindell MP tweeted “this is a truly amazing and wonderful act of friendship by Taiwan towards the UK. A true friend indeed!” Fellow members of the House of Commons also took to Twitter to express their thanks, including Stephen Timms MP. In addition to parliamentarians, members of the British Office Taipei (BOT), including Representative Catherine Nettleton, Deputy Representative Andrew Pittam, also thanked Taiwan for its generous donation to the UK and expressed support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organisations, including the World Health Organization (WHO). Earlier on 6 April, House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Tom Tugendhat MP drew attention to Taiwan’s exclusion from the WHO in an interview with Sky News and praised the country’s early action to combat the virus. In addition to UK parliamentarians, President of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen expressed gratitude to Taiwan on Twitter, stressing “acts like this show that we are #StrongerTogether,” while EU Representative in Taiwan Filip Grzegorzewski posted a tweet thanking Taiwan for its swift delivery of masks to countries hardest hit by the pandemic.