The first ministerial-level trade talks between Taipei and the EU, co-chaired by the EU’s Director General of Trade, Sabine Weyand, and Taiwan’s Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-Hua on semiconductors were held in Brussels on June 2. The talks violated the one-China principle on which the diplomatic relations between China and the EU are based, which prohibit ministerial-level contacts with the authorities in Taipei. The EU is exploring ways to set up its own semiconductor supply chain, while Taiwan produces 90% of the world’s most advanced chips, which will power the industries of the future. The talks came after months of EU deliberations on how and when to upgrade its annual dialogue with Taipei, and only a day after the United States launched an economic and trade initiative of its own with Taiwan. Taipei described the talks as a “major breakthrough in relations with the EU”. The upgrade “shows that in the EU’s blueprint for international economic and trade cooperation, the importance of Taiwan has increased”, its Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement.
“This is the start of what I expect will be a gradual ramping-up of European relations with Taiwan after years of neglect,” said Noah Barkin, Analyst of EU-China Affairs for the Rhodium Group. “This is partly out of self-interest: Taiwan is a vital partner in semiconductors as the EU embarks on a push to build up its domestic chips production capacity. But it is also a reflection of the EU’s deteriorating relationship with China and growing concerns about Beijing’s aggressive stance towards Taiwan.”
The EU secured Taipei’s support for its European Chips Act, a €42 billion blueprint to manufacture one-fifth of the world’s microchips by 2030. Taipei told Brussels that it would “continue to be a trusted partner” in microprocessors. But while Taiwanese companies are mulling chip-related investments in nations likes Germany, France and Lithuania, the EU’s Trade Department will leave talks about individual investments to member states. Both sides also discussed long-standing trade grievances, including protectionism in each other’s agricultural sectors. But a bilateral investment agreement, which Taiwanese officials have sought for some time, was not on the agenda.
A Spokesman for the Chinese Mission to the EU said that Beijing “firmly opposes all forms of official interaction with Taiwan by countries or organizations having diplomatic ties with China. We urge the EU side to abide by the one-China principle and not to have official interaction with Taiwan in any form”, the South China Morning Post reports.
