Former Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen heads to Europe this week

FILE – In this photo released by the Taiwan Presidential Office, Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen waves as she departs Taiwan, Sept. 5, 2023.

Taipei, Taiwan — 

Taiwan’s former president Tsai Ing-wen kicks off an eight-day trip to the Czech Republic and two other European countries on October 12 – her first international tour since leaving office in May. While China is likely to voice its opposition to the trip, analysts say it highlights the close ties that Taipei has forged with European countries in recent years.

China says democratically ruled Taiwan is part of its territory and opposes any formal contacts between Taiwan officials and other nations.

In a statement released Monday, Taiwan’s presidential office said current President Lai Ching-te has delegated the National Security Council and Foreign Ministry to carefully plan Tsai’s trip to Europe. Lai also said he hopes her trip will continue to deepen Taiwan’s friendship with Europe and make bilateral relations closer and more solid.

In the Czech Republic, Tsai is expected to attend the Forum 2000 and deliver a 10- to 15-minute speech. In addition to Prague, Reuters news agency reported that the former Taiwanese president will also visit France and Belgium, citing anonymous diplomatic sources. The trip will mark a former Taiwanese leader’s first trip to Europe.

In response to media reports of her trip, Tsai’s office said her team would publicize her itinerary once it is finalized.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry and China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, which handles relations with Taiwan, did not respond to requests for comment on the trip from VOA.

Analysts say Tsai’s trip highlights how Europe remains a key focus of Taiwan’s diplomatic efforts.

“Tsai Ing-wen has pursued a strategy of diversification of Taiwan’s foreign relations during her eight years of presidency and some of the most tangible results of the strategy are visible in the relations between Taiwan and Europe,” said Marcin Jerzewski, the head of Taiwan Office at the European Values Center for Security Policy.

In his view, Tsai’s trip sends a strong signal to European countries that “Taiwan wants to be seen as a consistent partner for Europe as a whole as well as for individual European countries.”

Tsai’s trip follows Taiwanese Vice President Hsiao Bi-Khim’s trip to Europe in March, during which she met with lawmakers from the Czech Republic, Poland, Lithuania, and the European Parliament.

It also comes on the heels of renewed trade tensions between the European Union and China, after EU member states backed a proposal to impose tariffs of up to 45% on electric vehicles imported from China.

During Tsai’s second term in office, between 2020 and 2024, Taiwan opened an office in Lithuania that used the name “Taiwanese Representative Office” instead of “Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office” that the democratically ruled island uses in other places.

Taiwan deepened trade and investment exchanges with several Central and Eastern European countries, and sent a former foreign minister, Joseph Wu, to the region on several high-profile trips.

The Czech Republic is one of the European countries that has significantly deepened its engagement with Taiwan during Tsai’s time in office. Czech President Petre Pavel had a phone call with Tsai after winning the presidential election in January 2023, and Prague has increased the frequency of its parliamentary diplomatic engagement with Taiwan since 2020.

Taiwan and the Czech Republic have also collaborated in the efforts to rebuild basic infrastructure in Ukraine since the Russian invasion in 2022, rebuilding schools and basic health care systems across Ukraine.

Experts say the fact that Tsai’s stop in Prague has been made public reflects the Czech Republic’s willingness to make its engagement with Taiwan more visible.

“The Czech Republic is the country that’s been the most willing to be loud about their relationship with Taiwan in ways that other European countries probably are not, but that doesn’t mean other countries aren’t willing to maintain good relations with Taiwan,” Lev Nachman, a political scientist at National Taiwan University, told VOA by phone.

Some Taiwanese analysts say Tsai’s decision not to disclose the full itinerary of her trip reflects the precaution that current and former Taiwanese officials often have to exercise when planning overseas trips.

“Since China will use different ways to obstruct most Taiwanese politicians’ overseas trips, I think Tsai’s decision not to publicize certain parts of her trip may be a way to reduce the chance of Beijing complicating her trip to Europe,” said Chen Fang-yu, a political scientist at Soochow University in Taiwan.

In his view, keeping her itinerary low-key may allow Tsai to have more constructive meetings with European politicians and officials in private.

“Judging from Taiwan’s situation, keeping overseas trips low profile may allow current or former Taiwanese officials to achieve more concrete goals while reducing the chances of the host countries experiencing Chinese retaliation,” Chen told VOA by phone.

Despite Tsai’s cautionary approach to planning the trip, Chen still expects Beijing to retaliate against countries that host the former Taiwanese leader.

“Since Beijing often imposes economic sanctions against countries that have friendly interactions with Taiwan or introduce Taiwan-friendly policies, I expect them to respond to Tsai’s Europe trip in similar ways,” he added.

Following Taiwanese Vice President Hsiao’s trip to the Czech Republic in March, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said it opposes any official exchanges between Taiwan and its diplomatic allies and urged Prague to “take effective measures to eliminate the negative impact” of Hsiao’s trip.

Since Tsai is no longer in office, Nachman said Tsai’s trip to Europe carries more symbolic importance and won’t deliver too many substantive results. “Her trip is about reassuring Central and Eastern European countries that Taiwan wants to continue these strong, unofficial relations with them,” he told VOA.

While Tsai’s trip is mainly about signaling Taiwan’s desire to prioritize engagement with European countries, Jerzewski said he expects the current Taiwanese government under Tsai’s successor Lai Ching-te to focus on deepening trade and economic relations with Central and Eastern European countries.

“Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry has already begun to recalibrate Taipei’s approach to Europe and since some of the first special industrial zones that the ministry has announced will be in the Czech Republic, this reflects the current Taiwanese government’s approach to prioritize substance in developing relations with European countries,” he told VOA.

BY：VOA