Two events happened on Friday last week that, while unrelated, are indicative of the direction President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration seeks to take Taiwan.
The first was Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) on Friday addressing the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China’s (IPAC) annual summit in Brussels. It was significant, as it was the first time a senior member of the government delivered a speech to a European legislature. Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) was also present at the summit.
The nation has had many dealings with the inter-parliamentary group, which was founded in 2020. Last year’s annual meeting was held in Taipei, during which Lai gave a speech.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Fan Yun (范雲), who was also present during this week’s summit, was officially invited to join the group in 2023.
The second event was the launch of the Northeast Asia Economic and Security Cooperation Association, a new legislative caucus aimed at bolstering economic and security ties between Taiwan, Japan and South Korea. This initiative, too, is significant in that it is the largest caucus to date, with 35 cross-party legislators, signaling a welcome consensus on the importance of building ties with the two important regional partners.
It is because of the parliamentary-level nature of IPAC that Hsiao was able to attend a meeting at the European Parliament as vice president, hovering just below the level of provocation that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) might feel justified in railing against.
With outreach to IPAC, which brings together international partners concerned about the challenges of an increasingly disruptive China, and the association concentrating on securing “non-red” supply chain resilience with like-minded neighbors wary of the dangers of reliance on the whims of the CCP, a unified policy is emerging: dealing with China on a sub-government, parliamentary level. That is less exposed to Beijing’s anger against efforts by the administration to push for formal ties with other governments, or to the CCP intimidating foreign governments to comply with its “one China” principle.
There is another level at which this policy is working: With Washington under US President Donald Trump expecting allies to stand more on their own, the Lai administration is looking to reinforce ties with like-minded nations elsewhere. It is doing this via IPAC, which is part of a wider charm offensive led by Lin in Europe, and through increased engagement and regular meetings with partners and parliamentarians in South Korea and Japan on the regional level, as warmer relations between South Korea and Japan are moving into institutional stability under new administrations. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung signaled a commitment to deepen ties between the two countries when they met at the APEC summit in South Korea.
Hsiao in her speech framed the ties that bind Taiwan with IPAC within the context of shared values and of democracy against authoritarianism.
During the alliance’s inaugural meeting, convener and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) said the focus of the alliance was not on building friendly ties per se, but on business — on action to create opportunities, pool strengths and bolster resilience.
The objective remains the same: To build upon a shared desire to ensure peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, in what all participants understand would be a long-term contest with the CCP.
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