Eva Fischer, correspondent in the Handelsblatt office in Brussels, analyzes trends and conflicts, regulatory projects and strategic concepts from the inner workings of the EU. Because anyone who is interested in business needs to know what’s going on in Brussels. You can reach them at [email protected]
(Photo: Klawe Rzeczy, Getty Images)
Dealing with Taiwan has become one of the most important issues in international politics. There are growing concerns that China will incorporate the island, which it already regards as part of its national territory. Many European governments are also driving the tensions.
For the forced reunification would not only end the Taiwanese democracy, it could also lead to a military confrontation between China and the USA. Everyone sees the great danger, only nobody speaks about it. Nobody dares, except for small Lithuania – at least a little.
The Baltic Republic recently allowed Taiwan to open a representation under its name – a novelty in the countries of the EU.
In other EU countries, the Taiwanese representation may only operate under the name of the capital Taipei. The reasons are the official adherence to the one-China policy and the fear of Beijing’s reaction if this principle is questioned.
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This fear does not seem to be known in Lithuania. Lithuania had already withdrawn from the China-led 17 + 1 format – a trading bloc with annual summits between Beijing and 17 Eastern European countries.
Relations between China and the Baltic country are now on hold – and are becoming a problem for the entire EU. China has closed its embassy in Lithuania and deleted the country from its customs database at the beginning of the month, so that it temporarily ceased to exist as an official trading partner. People’s Republic also threatened to deny international companies access to the Chinese market if they continued to do business with Lithuania.
At first glance, the Lithuanian approach seems daring. But the government in Vilnius doesn’t actually risk a lot: exports to China are negligible. And: The country with three million inhabitants has the EU behind it.
The Commission recently presented a plan that would allow it to respond to sanctions with its own sanctions. The Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis met with Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis earlier this week.
But it is still unclear how far Brussels’s new readiness for conflict will go. Some MEPs have recently called for closer relations with Taiwan, and the Czech Republic and Slovakia are also seeking proximity to the government in Taipei. But there is nothing more than cautious diplomatic punctuation.
The key strategic question remains open: How far should attempts to respond to China’s threats with counter-threats go? What economic price is Europe willing to pay for a value-based foreign policy?
Finding answers to these questions will be one of the most important challenges in the coming year. The traffic light government has to find a common position with France – also to prevent small countries like Lithuania, which do not have to worry much about the economic interests in China, from setting the direction for the entire EU.
More: Taiwan has no official allies so far – but the US and Pacific allies are signaling military support in the event of a Chinese attack