Japan has a new Prime Minister and faces challenges both old and new. A comment from an opposition politician led Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to make a statement on a possible commitment from the Japanese Navy to protect Taiwan. The response from China was quick, but the implications for Takaichi are more telling. Will she reposition Japan globally, or be stopped by the same forces that forced Shinzō Abe to halt his ambitions?
On 13 January 2024, the Taiwanese Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) secured the island’s presidency with 40% of the vote, simultaneously losing its majority in the concurrent elections for the Legislative Yuan, its parliament. The historic election, coming at the end point of a bitterly contested 3-way race between the DPP, its historical rival Kuomintang (KMT), and the novel Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), was marked by political polarisation, the proliferation of fake news, and Chinese attempts to influence the election towards the relatively China-friendly KMT. While the world worries about escalation in the Taiwan strait, a crucial gateway for commerce for both China and the European Union (EU), the reactions to the DPP’s win suggest that the next 4 years of DPP governance may herald few seismic changes in Taiwan’s relationship with China, the United States, and the EU.
In an ever-changing geopolitical climate, trade relations between the EU and Taiwan are being viewed through a microscope. Rising tensions between China and the United States have increasingly made security across the Taiwan Strait a top priority for EU lawmakers, which has become evident in the EU’s 2021 Indo-Pacific Strategy and its implementation. Taiwan is a vital economic trade partner for the EU and by assessing the history, trends, and current status of the trade relationship between the two partners, the EU can do better to economically engage with Taiwan in the future. Remaining a partner in East Asia in promoting shared values such as “democracy, freedom, human rights and the rule of law”, Taiwan and the EU are looking for channels to affirm their trade relationship in an increasingly delicate geopolitical climate.
Join us on 31 May 2022 from 10:30 AM to 12:00 CEST for the Webinar/Hybrid Event on the EU’s Global Gateway in the Indo-Pacific, taking a closer look at the case of Taiwan as an example.
Holding a near monopoly in semiconductor manufacturing, Taiwan should seek to sustain the global supply chain and maintain its “silicon shield”. In particular by expanding its outreach abroad through cooperation with other partners such as the EU.
Webinar assessing the potential for businesses and policy makers in Taiwan and the EU and how to shape mutually beneficial green cooperation in the circular economy, promoting investment, trade, and technology exchanges between their respective industries.
Taiwan’s energy transition relies on the rapid expansion of liquefied natural gas and renewables. What are the prospects and challenges for Taiwan´s ambitious plans, and how can the EU play a role in this process?