EU lawmaker reiterates support for DPP chief - Main contents

Member of the European Parliament Hans van Baalen, the vice chairman of the body’s Taiwan Friendship Group, said on Sunday he would vote for Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (???) if he were Taiwanese.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs denies that van Baalen originally made such a statement, but he said he stood by his statements and would take full responsibility for his words — adding that the ministry should as well.

In a press release on Thursday last week titled “Van Baalen’s personal written statement to clarify on the misreport,” the ministry said a report by the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) of van Baalen’s declaration that he would vote for Tsai was false.

However, when asked by Taiwanese reporters at a Liberal International press conference in the Philippines on Sunday, van Baalen said if he were Taiwanese, he would vote for Tsai and DPP legislators next year because he believed in and supported liberty.

Van Baalen added that regardless of the outcome of the presidential election next January, he would still be a friend of Taiwan.

Commenting on van Baalen’s reiteration, ministry spokesman James Chang (???) said on Sunday that colleagues at the ministry had shown van Baalen what had been printed on Thursday after the -ministry saw it in the Liberty Times.

Van Baalen then penned a response and agreed to let the ministry publicly announce his response, Chang said.

The ministry merely assisted van Baalen to clarify the matter and thanked international friends of Taiwan for not interfering in the elections, Chang said.

By Lee Hsin-fang / Staff Reporter

TRANSLATED BY JAKE CHUNG, STAFF WRITER