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.
US president-elect Donald Trump continues to make nominations for his Cabinet and US agencies, with most of his picks being staunchly against Beijing. For US ambassador to China, Trump has tapped former US senator David Perdue. This appointment makes it crystal clear that Trump has no intention of letting China continue to steal from the US while infiltrating it in a surreptitious quasi-war, harming world peace and stability. Originally earning a name for himself in the business world, Perdue made his start with Chinese supply chains as a manager for several US firms. He later served as the CEO of Reebok and
US$18.278 billion is a simple dollar figure; one that’s illustrative of the first Trump administration’s defense commitment to Taiwan. But what does Donald Trump care for money? During President Trump’s first term, the US defense department approved gross sales of “defense articles and services” to Taiwan of over US$18 billion. In September, the US-Taiwan Business Council compared Trump’s figure to the other four presidential administrations since 1993: President Clinton approved a total of US$8.702 billion from 1993 through 2000. President George W. Bush approved US$15.614 billion in eight years. This total would have been significantly greater had Taiwan’s Kuomintang-controlled Legislative Yuan been cooperative. During
US president-elect Donald Trump in an interview with NBC News on Monday said he would “never say” if the US is committed to defending Taiwan against China. Trump said he would “prefer” that China does not attempt to invade Taiwan, and that he has a “very good relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Before committing US troops to defending Taiwan he would “have to negotiate things,” he said. This is a departure from the stance of incumbent US President Joe Biden, who on several occasions expressed resolutely that he would commit US troops in the event of a conflict in
Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in recent days was the focus of the media due to his role in arranging a Chinese “student” group to visit Taiwan. While his team defends the visit as friendly, civilized and apolitical, the general impression is that it was a political stunt orchestrated as part of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propaganda, as its members were mainly young communists or university graduates who speak of a future of a unified country. While Ma lived in Taiwan almost his entire life — except during his early childhood in Hong Kong and student years in the US —
RSS