Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) has been invited to the 12th Warsaw Security Forum in Poland to deliver a keynote speech on the “Reinvention of Global Democratic Supply Chains,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
The ministry quoted Lin as saying that through the visit, he hopes to have meaningful exchanges with European partners, and show Europe the importance of Taiwan.
Lin also hopes to push for closer Taiwan-Europe cooperation, the ministry added.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Lin, who departed for Poland on Saturday, plans meet with friends and exchange ideas in Europe, share Taiwan’s values of democracy, peace and prosperity, deepen Taiwan international connections, and promote the nation’s “integrated diplomacy” foreign policy, the foreign ministry said.
In addition to having meaningful exchanges with European partners, Lin also wrote on Facebook that he also hopes to leverage the strengths of think tank diplomacy to broaden Taiwan’s international space.
Since its establishment in 2014, the Warsaw Security Forum has become the most influential dialogue platform on security and foreign policy in central and eastern Europe, he said.
The forum has become increasingly important in recent years, as the Russian authoritarian regime has been expanding, severely threatening Europe’s security, and central and eastern Europe is at the front line of the threat, he added.
Lin said he brings the public’s expectations with him on the trip, hoping to let Europe see Taiwan’s importance, including how Taiwan is protecting democracy and freedom, and contributing to maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, and global prosperity.
Lin said he also looks forward to closer cooperation between Taiwan and Europe, and through Taiwanese industries’ technological capability, manufacturing capacity and flexibility, assist Europe help its reindustrialization goals amid US-China competition, and maintain the rules-based international order.
Poland has been very supportive for Taiwan in recent years, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵), chairwoman of the Taiwan-Poland inter-parliamentary amity association, said yesterday.
Poland is willing to allow Lin to make his itinerary public before his departure, she said.
While Lin’s previous visits focused on trade and culture, his attendance at the Warsaw Security Forum is more symbolic, said Wang Hung-jen (王宏仁), executive director of the Institute for National Policy Research.
Lin’s trip is expected to counterbalance Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi’s (王毅) visit to Poland earlier this month, and highlight the similar challenges faced by Taiwan and Poland when dealing with China’s and Russia’s “gray zone” tactics, he said.
This would mean the geopolitical location of the Taiwan Strait and Russia’s invasion has made European countries empathize with security issues in the Strait, said Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a researcher at the state-run Institute for National Defense and Security Research (INDSR).
Lin’s plan to participate in the forum as foreign minister should be treated in a normal way, he said.
The invitation for Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升), deputy chief of the ministry’s Office of the Deputy Chief of General Staff for Intelligence, to take part in the forum, represented a shift in practice, he said.
In the past, Taiwan was usually represented by military think tanks, such as the INDSR, he said.
The participation of an active high-ranking general indicated a dual-track approach that combines military and diplomatic efforts, he said, calling it a major breakthrough in Taiwan’s diplomatic space.
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