500 years ago, the Portuguese named an island in the Pacific Formosa, a name that placed the territory now known as Taiwan on the international stage. Centuries have passed and the word Formosa continues to be present in Taiwanese history and culture, as well as Portugal. But on this side, Taiwan does not have the same weight, a reality that the government of the territory threatened by neighboring giant China wants to change
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is, perhaps, one of the busiest departments in the executive branch of . It is no coincidence that the former minister, Joseph Wu, said it was “probably the most difficult foreign minister position in the world”.
Only a dozen countries recognize the independence of the territory officially called the Republic of China, which Xi Jinping claims as an integral part of the People’s Republic of China and promises to reunify with increasingly constant military exercises in the Taiwan Strait. The threat of an invasion or blockade hangs in the air and faced with a militarily invincible enemy, the beautiful island, as the Portuguese called it, invests in friendships with the rest of the world.
The United States is the most important ally. In second place is neighboring Japan. In third… Taiwan is trying to conquer diverse Europe. In a conversation with European journalists in Taipei, Taiwan’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, François Chihchung Wu, recalls that two weeks ago he was at the Berlin Security Conference, in Germany, Czechia, Slovakia and France. At the same time, Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung went to the European Parliament, Belgium, Poland and Lithuania. And former Prime Minister Chen Chien-jen visited the Vatican.
“In the last eight years Europe has been one of the regions that has really increased cooperation with Taiwan”, says François Chihchung Wu, pointing to statistics to highlight that in the last four years more investments have been made “in Europe than in the last 40” . The semiconductor industry plays a crucial role. Taiwan produces around 60% of the world’s semiconductors, 95% of the most sophisticated and 100% of those intended for Artificial Intelligence.
This monopoly is Taiwan’s great advantage, but the vice minister highlights Europe’s role in what he calls the semiconductor ecosystem. “Europe plays a very important role in design. The most important partner of TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited) is the IMEC center based in Belgium. Another very important partner is in France. Then we need machines to produce the semiconductors and these machines are manufactured by ASML in the Netherlands. And when I met ASML they told me that they use a lot of German technology”.
Czechia, Slovakia, Germany and Lithuania are also developing partnerships and strengthening relations with Taiwan. This preponderance of central and eastern European countries is easy to explain: “Everyone suffered from the communist regime in the past, we share the same feeling”, explains François Chihchung Wu, comparing the threat from the People’s Republic of China to the Soviet Union.
But someone you rarely hear about, except for the historical connection, is from Portugal. “It seems to us, from our perspective, that Portugal does not have a very strong desire to try to develop a relationship with Taiwan”, says the vice minister. Taiwan has a Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in Lisbon, an unofficial mission since, as it is not recognized as a country, it cannot have embassies.
“We maintain official relations unofficially,” explains François Chihchung Wu, who for six years was Taiwan’s representative in France. The centers act as de facto embassies, but not all countries reciprocate. This is the case of Portugal, which does not have representation in Taiwan, unlike 18 European countries.
“We hope to develop more relations with Portugal, but we also need some courage from the Portuguese government to be willing to work with Taiwan”, says François Chihchung Wu, who from an economic point of view does not remember “a lot of cooperation because China plays a very important role in this relationship.” Being friends with Taiwan means upsetting China, a delicate balance that the Taiwanese government says it is feeling in other countries such as Lithuania and South Africa.
But for Taiwan it is a question of survival as an independent and democratic nation. Therefore, the vice minister extends an invitation to Portugal. “We will be delighted to invite Members of Parliament to see what your ancestors discovered long ago.” Because, he believes, there is “a lot of room for us to work together”.
CNN Portugal traveled at the invitation of the Bakala Foundation
