The Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan has no official diplomatic allies in the EU. With the exception of the Vatican, it has no official allies in Europe at all. This does not prevent the ROC — Taiwan — from having close relations with EU member states and other European countries.
The exact nature of the relationship does bear revisiting, if only to clarify what is a very complicated and sensitive idea, the details of which leave considerable room for misunderstanding, misrepresentation and disagreement.
Only this week, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) received members of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with the People’s Republic of China (note the reference to the PRC, not the ROC on Taiwan), led by Reinhard Butikofer, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs received members of the Romanian-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group.
Vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) has also been visiting parliamentary groups in Europe prior to taking up her post as vice president in May. On Sunday, Hsiao was received by Member of the European Parliament Othmar Karas on behalf of European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, spoke with Butikofer, and visited the Czech Republic, Poland and Lithuania on a tour of Central and Eastern European countries. There, she met with several parliamentarians, including Czech Senate President Milos Vystrcil.
The importance of Hsiao’s European trip, and Tsai’s and the ministry’s reception of the EU delegations, is to promote person-to-person relationships with parliamentarians in the absence of official ties. This necessarily involves articulating the distinction between the ROC on Taiwan and the PRC.
Taiwan Corner chairman Michael Danielsen writes on this page about an article published in Danish newspaper Berlingske the same day Hsiao was meeting EU parliamentarians about how in interactions with the Danish state, a Taiwanese’s nationality is now listed as “China.”
On the Taiwan Corner Web site, Danielsen writes that this seems to represent a “paradigm shift” in Denmark’s policy, drawing it more in line with the PRC’s “one China principle” and suggesting that it now regards Taiwan as part of China, an idea that is not touched upon in Denmark’s “one China policy.”
Danielsen says that this change is damaging to Denmark’s reputation on human rights. This is a legitimate concern, because it moves the Danish position closer to that of an authoritarian state at the expense of the citizens of the ROC, a democratic country.
The distinction between “citizens of the ROC” as opposed to Taiwanese nationals (not “Taiwanese citizens”) is important, because the official name of the country is not Taiwan, it is the ROC. This is not pedantry, it runs to the very core of why it is important to be constantly refining the nature of Taiwan’s predicament in how it pertains to its ties with friends in the international community.
Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is preparing another trip to China, again in the capacity of the head of a private foundation and at Beijing’s invitation. Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) has even hinted that Ma could meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).
Ma says he is trying to improve ROC-PRC relations and to cool tensions in the Taiwan Strait. He knows that he is also muddying the waters regarding the understanding of Taiwan’s status internationally.
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
In an article published on this page on Tuesday, Kaohsiung-based journalist Julien Oeuillet wrote that “legions of people worldwide would care if a disaster occurred in South Korea or Japan, but the same people would not bat an eyelid if Taiwan disappeared.” That is quite a statement. We are constantly reading about the importance of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), hailed in Taiwan as the nation’s “silicon shield” protecting it from hostile foreign forces such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and so crucial to the global supply chain for semiconductors that its loss would cost the global economy US$1
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
Sasha B. Chhabra’s column (“Michelle Yeoh should no longer be welcome,” March 26, page 8) lamented an Instagram post by renowned actress Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊) about her recent visit to “Taipei, China.” It is Chhabra’s opinion that, in response to parroting Beijing’s propaganda about the status of Taiwan, Yeoh should be banned from entering this nation and her films cut off from funding by government-backed agencies, as well as disqualified from competing in the Golden Horse Awards. She and other celebrities, he wrote, must be made to understand “that there are consequences for their actions if they become political pawns of
RSS