Partners In Need? Tracking Europe-Taiwan Relations Amidst Global Disruption | Hoover Institution

Quick Overview

Europe-Taiwan relations have sharply increased since 2020, shifting from marginality to greater strategic relevance, driven by incremental adjustments across the continent in response to a global "poly crisis" involving China fatigue, the COVID-19 pandemic, and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Key Points: Ties between Europe and Taiwan have seen a sharp uptick since 2020, moving from relative marginality toward greater strategic relevance, reflected in growing parliamentary engagement and expanding economic cooperation. Mate Chimalic's research groups European countries into four categories based on engagement: 'old partners' (Germany, France, UK), 'new friends of Taiwan' (Czechia, Poland, Slovakia, Lithuania), 'pragmatists' (like Hungary), and 'laggars'. Lithuania's decision to allow a Taiwanese representative office under the name 'Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania' resulted in forceful PRC retaliation, including an imposed boycott of Lithuanian products, which was later elevated to an EU-level issue. Gabrielius Lansberg noted that the PRC blockade against Lithuania involved preventing declaration of goods in customs systems and imposing secondary sanctions, such as pressuring a German automotive company due to a Lithuanian-produced part. The EU ultimately coordinated a response, including a G7 statement supporting Lithuania and the EU initiating a WTO case against the PRC, which helped lead to the return of trade, as China sought to prove the initial disruption was a 'glitch'. Key drivers for increased European engagement include realizing the interconnected nature of security, soft security cooperation (economic security, supply chain resilience), and seeing Taiwan's role in supporting Ukraine. Future sustainability requires Taiwan to deliver on economic pledges to avoid 'Taiwan fatigue,' while Europe needs to move forward on removing market access barriers and fostering dialogue with upcoming young political leaders.

Context: This discussion, hosted by the Hoover Institution, analyzes the evolving relationship between Europe and Taiwan amidst global disruption, featuring experts Mate Chimalic, Executive Director of the Central European Institute of Asian Studies, and Gabrielius Lansberg, former Foreign Minister of Lithuania when the Taiwanese representative office opened in Vilnius. The context is set by the growing realization in Europe that engagement with Taiwan is strategically important for security and economic competitiveness, contrasting with the long-standing pressure from the PRC based on the 'One China Principle' which demands severing formal diplomatic ties with Taipei upon recognizing Beijing.