How China is pushing Europeans into Taiwan’s arms

Another diplomatic blow for Taiwan. Nicaragua announced Thursday, December 9, the severance of its relations with the small island in the Indo-Pacific area, considered by China as a rebel province. As Beijing steps up its efforts to isolate Taipei, the Taiwanese government has lost, since 2016, seven of his allies for the benefit of China.

Yet as its official support dwindles, Taiwan continues to attract the sympathy of many democracies around the world. This is the case of the European Union which has undertaken, over the past year, a diplomatic rapprochement with the island, to Beijing’s chagrin. Faced with aggressive influence campaigns from China, Europe now sees Taiwan as a strategic partner, especially in cybersecurity.

The EU facing a “systemic rival”

In 2019, the European Union already viewed with suspicion the rise of China, which it described as “cooperation partner” but also “economic competitor” and “systemic rival”. Since then, the Covid-19 pandemic has only accentuated this feeling.

In June 2020, as the health crisis grew, the European Commission accused China of leading disinformation campaigns on Covid-19 within the European Union, publicly naming Beijing for the first time. , as a source of disinformation. Shortly afterwards, at a virtual EU-China summit, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen again denounced China’s responsibility for a series of cyber attacks on European hospitals.

An extensive report on Chinese influence operations around the world, published last September by the Strategic Research Institute of the French Military School, also looked at China’s disinformation operations targeting Sweden. According to the researchers, Beijing sees the Nordic country as a Trojan horse, to infiltrate and destabilize European institutions.

These hostile operations, coupled with the restriction on civil liberties in Hong Kong, human rights violations in Xinjiang, as well as systematic military intimidation from Taiwan, have drawn strong criticism within the hardened EU. the tone against Beijing. A development that has benefited Taiwan, now perceived by Europe as a strategic partner because of its democratic values, its resistance to China and its expertise in cybersecurity.

Fight against interference and technological partnership

On October 21, the European Parliament adopted a resolution to strengthen ties with Taiwan. Calling the island a “key partner” in the Indo-Pacific region, she calls for a comprehensive and strengthened partnership with Taipei, including the strengthening of the European Economic and Trade Office in Taiwan, the signing of a bilateral investment agreement and the deepening cooperation in the fight against disinformation and cyber threats.

Although not binding, this resolution reflects an increased effort to get closer to Taiwan while respecting the framework of the “one China policy” of the European Union. Beginning of November, Parliament sent its very first official delegation to Taipei, composed of seven members of the Special Commission on Foreign Interference and Disinformation (INGE).

The delegation met with senior Taiwanese government officials and civil society organizations to learn from Taiwan’s experience in combating foreign interference. Because the island is at the forefront of China’s influence campaigns, which aim to undermine its democratic institutions.

>> To read also: “When the Chinese embassy is unleashed against a French researcher”

“We would like to further exploit the know-how of Taiwan, by cooperating with NGOs and experts in the region, and possibly share it with other democratic allies in the world”, explains Marketa Gregorova, Czech MEP, member of the European delegation, contacted by France 24.

The European Union also wishes to develop a technological partnership with Taipei. Brussels is trying in particular to convince the Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturer TSMC to set up a factory in Europe. Because the island has particular know-how in this cutting-edge technology, used in the fields of smartphones, artificial intelligence or even fighter planes, and whose shortage has severely affected the European automotive industry during the Covid-19 crisis.

“With the European chip law, Europe will step up its efforts to increase production, but we also want to cooperate with partners who share our values ​​like Taiwan”, said Sabine Weyland, director general of the commercial section of the Commission. European Union, at a virtual EU-Taiwan investment summit in October.

A lasting rapprochement?

Unsurprisingly, the trip by EU lawmakers to Taiwan last month angered China, which accused the European Parliament of “gravely violating the EU’s commitment to the one-China policy” and agitated the threat of retaliation.

Raphaël Glucksmann, the French MEP who led the delegation, is one of eleven Europeans who were sanctioned by Beijing in March for their plea regarding abuses in the Xinjiang region. As he left for Taiwan, he wrote on Twitter: “Neither threats nor sanctions will intimidate me. I will always be on the side of those who fight for democracy and human rights.”

Following the visit to Taiwan, the European Parliament said its delegates had agreed to explore new avenues for partnerships, including the creation in Taipei of a common hub to counter disinformation. But while the European Commission says it wants to pursue “deeper trade and investment relations” with Taiwan, no concrete deal has so far emerged, with the EU’s executive body remaining more cautious on the question that Parliament.

The continuation of this cooperation will depend above all on the foreign policy of the member states, as the new German government has just taken office and France prepares for the presidential election in April 2022.

The German Greens, who now head the Foreign Ministry, have promised to toughen their tone against Beijing in the name of democratic values, contrasting with the Merkel era which favored, above all, trade agreements with China. The three coalition partners of the new government have also pleaded for an expansion of relations with Taiwan.

“The work of the European Parliament has helped to see cooperation with the island as ‘normal’ and pushed the EU to appropriate pro-Taiwan language”, analyzes Zsuzsa Anna Ferenczy, Taipei-based postdoctoral researcher and former advisor politician in the European Parliament, contacted by France 24.

“Taiwan has managed to build international support, with democracies more comfortable supporting its cause […]. And this development results from aggressive policies of China. Beijing is actually helping to ensure that there is more, not less, of Taiwan in Europe. “

Article translated from English by David Rich. The article in its original version can be read here.