Since the onset of the COVID-19 global health crisis in early 2020, Taiwan has donated more than 10 million masks to the EU under its “Taiwan Can Help” motto, along with protective gear, forehead thermometers, isolation gowns and sanitizing spray bottles.
Taiwan’s goodwill did not go to waste. It planted the seeds of a healthy and mutually valuable expansion of bilateral cooperation, in particular with several central-eastern European countries.
Ever since, rooted in the embrace of common values and solidarity in the face of authoritarian threats, this cooperation has seen a gradual and sustainable growth.
Seen in this light, the donation of more than US$20 million by Taiwanese to central-eastern Europe to provide refuge to millions of Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s war builds on the cycle of goodwill and helps keep the momentum alive.
“Slovakia has not forgotten its friends,” the Slovak Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei said in July last year as it donated COVID-19 vaccines in return for the masks it had received a year earlier.
From August to October last year, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia together donated nearly 850,000 vaccine doses to Taiwan.
Taiwan’s success in containing the pandemic — building on transparency, technology and trust in sharp contrast with Beijing’s opaque, top-down approach — did not go unnoticed in a Europe increasingly wary of the ramifications of Beijing’s assertiveness inside the bloc.
When the Lithuanian government decided to exit the “17+1” cooperation format between central-eastern Europe and China, it announced its intention to expand ties with Taiwan. Vilnius insisted on the need to deal with China on a European level as the only way to effectively manage the geopolitical and geo-economic challenges Beijing has presented to Europe.
Alarmed by the growing threats, more than 200 Lithuanian politicians and scholars called on their government to back Taiwan’s participation in the WHO, in line with similar calls from the European Parliament over the years.
In October last year, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) visited Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, saying that he hoped to see European government officials visiting Taiwan in the near future.
While the growing exchange between Taiwan and central-eastern Europe enraged Beijing, it enchanted Taiwanese and Europeans. Inspired by the mutual assistance, Lithuanians discovered Taiwanese puff snacks — in no fewer than three flavors, including cream, chocolate and strawberry — while Taiwanese lined up to buy the Lithuanian rum that Beijing rejected.
At the time, the these expressions of mutual interest were doubted by many who were unsure of the sustainability of the positive trend.
Given Taiwan’s low profile across the European bloc over the years, the reservation was justified. The relationship the EU and its member states have entertained with China, a significant trade partner, stifled any meaningful debate on Taiwan in Brussels.
However, Brussels’ labeling of China as a “systemic rival” in 2019 suggested that perceptions of China inside the bloc have shifted, pushing member states to get serious about their approach to the country.
The COVID-19 pandemic, the threat of disinformation and Russia’s war against Ukraine made member states aware, more than ever, of their own vulnerabilities and lack of resilience in the face of authoritarian regimes’ economic coercion and influence operations.
In less than two years, the phrase “Taiwan Can Help” has come to define the new perceptions in EU-Taiwan relations, which resonates with central-eastern Europeans and Taiwanese.
This helps explain why on March 3, just a few days after Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs encouraged Taiwanese to participate in democratic countries’ efforts against the war and set up a special account for donations to Ukrainian refugees fleeing to neighboring countries.
On Tuesday last week, Wu announced a donation of US$11.5 million to the governments of five EU countries to help refugees, namely those in Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic. Taiwan also joined international economic sanctions against Russia.
Through the government’s mobilization of Taiwanese and their generous response, Taiwan is doing its part to consolidate cooperation with central-eastern Europe.
This is crucial because expanding bilateral ties, under Beijing’s watchful eye and rising threats, is not only an opportunity to increase their own resilience, but also a joint responsibility.
Playing an active and supportive role as Europe and the democratic world face an immense threat helps shape Taiwan’s self-perception as a democracy in a community of democracies. It nurtures the identity of its people and strengthens their awareness of the value that lies in giving and receiving in their engagement with the world.
Through their donations and weekly marches, they have shown that they stand with Ukraine and identify with their fears, seeing a reflection of their own struggle, as they, just like the people of Ukraine, remain exposed to an existential threat.
Identifying with Europe’s struggle helps strengthen Taiwan’s profile in Europe as a like-minded and willing partner.
The region and Taiwan have jointly cultivated mutual awareness, educating their citizens of the need to support each other. Standing together with Ukraine is the natural way forward.
Zsuzsa Anna Ferenczy is an assistant professor at National Dong-Hwa University and a former political adviser in the European Parliament.
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