French Communist Party presidential candidate Russell recently made a nonsense about “Taiwan is a part of China” when he expressed his political views on a TV show.Photo: Flip through Russell’s Facebook
France will hold a presidential election in April this year. The French Communist Party (PCF) presidential candidate, Fabien Roussel, recently made a nonsense about “Taiwan is a part of China” when he expressed his political opinions on a TV program. He also said that Taiwan should abide by one country, two systems , like Hong Kong, France also needs to “abide by” its relations with China. Russell’s speech was immediately criticized by French netizens, “Is it a parrot of the CCP?”, “Is this person an idiot? Ignorance is extreme”, “Taiwan does not belong to China in essence, and even if he doesn’t know this, he still elects a president.”
According to the French media “Libération” (Libération), the well-known political program “C dans l’air” of French TV 5 (France 5) recently broadcast a special campaign in response to the presidential election. On the evening of the 13th, the National Union Party (NR, Marine Le Pen, formerly the chairman of the National Front (FN), and Russell, a candidate for the Communist Party, appeared on the program. The host asked Russell about the Taiwan Strait issue, which has recently attracted attention from all walks of life. Regarding “whether Taiwan is part of China”, Russell hesitated at first, then said, “Taiwan belongs to China.”
Russell believes that Taiwan should abide by one country, two systems, just like Hong Kong. On the side, Stéphanie Balme, director of the Center for International Studies (CERI) at Sciences Po, and a scholar of Chinese studies, heard Russell’s speech and immediately refuted it, pointing out that the situation in Taiwan is very different from that in Hong Kong. Russell, on the other hand, stressed that he does not agree with the CCP’s implementation of the National Security Law on Hong Kong, and hopes that the rights of the Taiwanese will be respected. He is aware of the will of the Taiwanese to want sovereignty, but France also needs to “abide” by its relationship with China. .
Russell claimed that if elected, he will try his best to maintain dialogue with China and at the same time allow the rights of the Taiwanese to be properly respected. Even if the independence of Taiwan will not be recognized in the future, the French side will maintain bilateral relations with Taiwan. However, when he spoke, he almost made a joke by referring to “Taiwanese” as “Thai”. This video was later posted on Twitter by “C dans l’air”, and French netizens ridiculed: “Is this person an idiot? Ignorance is extreme”, “Is Russell a parrot of the CCP? The Taiwan government is elected by the people. “Now everyone knows that Taiwan does not belong to China”, “Although China claims to own Taiwan, Taiwan does not actually belong to him, and he does not even know that he is still electing a president.”