Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) continues to play a vital role in bridging the gap between Taiwan and the West. Her European tour is a clear illustration of this.
Her tour to Lithuania, Denmark and the UK clarifies the continued importance of her role in reinforcing Taiwan’s standing in the world. It is no coincidence that the first nation she visited was Lithuania, given the strengthening of relations between the two nations during the Tsai administration.
While in Vilnius, Tsai spoke at a reception organized by the Lithuania-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group, before heading to Vilnius University to deliver a speech and meet with former Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaite.
During her address, Tsai noted the natural development of relations between the two countries, stemming their common challenges and aligned values.
Her words are a testament to a collective awareness and purpose:
“Despite the threats from outside, we both thrived and developed our economies and became defenders of democracy,” she said, adding that Taiwan and Lithuania are united by shared values of freedom, human rights and the rule of law.
Tsai said a primary aspect shared by Taipei and Vilnius was the embrace of a foreign policy shaped by values and grounded in the resistance against authoritarianism.
During her address at Vilnius University, Tsai drew attention to the similarities in the undersea cable sabotage in waters off Taiwan and in the Baltic Sea. She urged affected nations to work together on their inquiries and exchange best practices to forestall future acts of this kind.
Inextricably tied to this subject is the issue of disinformation employed by China and Russia against their neighbors. Tsai underscored Taiwan’s role as an “ideal partner” for sharing insights and developing cutting-edge competencies to more effectively counter espionage and information manipulation campaigns.
Building on Taipei’s extensive experience in repelling Chinese cyberattacks and disinformation operations, she outlined how Taiwan could provide valuable support to its like-minded allies.
Vilnius has shown a keen understanding of the actual scale of the threat emanating from an authoritarian power (namely Russia) whose imperialistic agenda jeopardizes stability and peace domestically and across the continent.
Denmark, a country with some of the highest standards of democracy and human rights, was Tsai’s next stop. While in the country, Tsai attended the Copenhagen Democracy Summit, where she reiterated Taiwan’s dedication to regional stability and cooperation with democratic allies.
Tsai is to proceed to the UK to engage with British politicians, Taiwanese professionals, and visiting academic and research establishments.
This leg of the journey holds strategic weight, particularly given the cancelation last year of Tsai’s visit by British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy, a gesture intended to appease China, which he was then scheduled to visit.
With UK-China relations having markedly declined due to a range of concerns, including Huawei’s role in the UK’s 5G infrastructure, espionage and human rights violations, substantial opportunities exist for mutually beneficial collaboration.
With serious and trustworthy representatives such as Tsai, Taiwan could play a key role in making European partners realize they need to fully engage with the country in order to get hold of the tools required to be active and leading players in tackling future challenges.
Michele Maresca is an analyst at Il Caffe Geopolitico, an online international law journal, and the think tank Geopol21.
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