A Taiwanese delegation in September visited NATO headquarters in Brussels and met with European Commission officials, Intelligence Online reported on Monday, citing anonymous European diplomatic sources.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) earlier in September visited Europe. His itinerary was not made public beforehand due to its sensitivity.
Lin and former National Security Council (NSC) deputy secretary-general Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) were “able to gain unprecedented access to high-ranking individuals and institutions” during their European visit, Intelligence Online reported.
Photo: CNA
Hsu, who is an adviser to the NSC, led a delegation to visit NATO headquarters while in Brussels, it said in the report, titled “Taiwanese diplomats make discreet visits to NATO and Paris.”
Hsu’s “emphasis on economic security, as well as the democratic values that the island defends, went down well with his European interlocutors,” it said.
The trip, which included stops in Paris, Berlin, London and Warsaw, was to present Taiwan’s strategies for cooperation with the EU, particularly in semiconductors, artificial intelligence, defense and surveillance, it said.
Separately, Hsu said in an interview in Warsaw last month with the German-language Deutsche Welle that if incursions of Russian drones into the airspace of Estonia, Poland and other NATO member states “becomes a pattern, it’s very similar to what China has been doing to” Taiwan.
Such incursions would be “long-term, some kind of a gray zone harassment,” but would be more serious, as Russian drones are entering the territories of other states, whereas the Chinese sorties do not, Hsu said.
The goal of such acts is to wear down military response capabilities, test vulnerabilities and gauge response times, he said, adding that alongside information manipulation, the side engaging in “gray zone” activities seeks to discredit target governments and undercut their authority by creating an image of ineptitude.
While Taiwan is not “expecting European countries to come fight our war,” there are many ways Taiwan and the EU can help build each other’s capabilities and become each other’s supply chains, Hsu added.
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