As anxiety over U.S. President Donald Trump¡¯s commitment to protecting Taiwan from Chinese military aggression lingers in Taipei, the island¡¯s officials are fanning out across Europe to shore up friendships.
Hsiao Bi-khim last week became the first Taiwanese vice president since 2002 to visit a European country Taipei doesn¡¯t have diplomatic ties with, excluding brief transits. The island¡¯s former de facto U.S. envoy ¡ª who speaks fluent English ¡ª spoke inside the bloc¡¯s parliament in Brussels before an independent alliance of lawmakers who advocate for a harder line on China.
Days later, former Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen delivered a speech in the German capital, warning against the perils of the ¡°authoritarian toolkits¡± of nations, and drawing parallels between Beijing¡¯s aggression toward her democratically run island and the Kremlin¡¯s invasion of Ukraine.
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