Taiwan conundrum looms for EU officials winding up summer break

Name: US-Taiwan trade talks prompt Beijing warning, ‘economic coercion’ on agenda
Uploaded: 2022-08-21T22:00:19.000Z
Duration: 2 min 24 s
Description: US-Taiwan trade talks prompt Beijing warning, ‘economic coercion’ on agenda

The EU earlier stayed well out of the blazing US-China fallout over Pelosi’s Taipei visit

But it may not be able to sit on the sidelines forever, as fears grow of supply chain turmoil related to microchips and a Taiwan blockade

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Tourists in mainland China visit a scenic area in southeastern Fujian province marked as the closest spot to the island of Taiwan. Photo: AP

Finbarr Berminghamin Brussels

Published: 6:00am, 22 Aug 2022Updated: 4:06pm, 22 Aug 2022

European officials returning from the summer holidays will be greeted by a burning issue many would rather avoid: Taiwan.

The European Union has largely kept out of the blazing row sparked by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s controversial visit to Taipei earlier this month, which resulted in a series of live military exercises surrounding the island by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

European officials felt there was little to gain from substantially wading into what they saw as a bilateral US-China dispute. Privately, some were annoyed by what they viewed as provocation by Pelosi, second in line to the US presidency, even if they also thought China’s militaristic reaction was over the top.

02:24

US-Taiwan trade talks prompt Beijing warning, ‘economic coercion’ on agenda

But European businesses are now on high alert for future supply chain turmoil. The volatility of the situation will also spark a frenzied scramble for Taiwan’s microchips, with the island producing more than 90 per cent of the world’s most advanced semiconductors.

Politically, too, the crisis plants a fresh thorn in the side of EU-China relations.

Latvia and Estonia’s decision last week to publicly leave the China-backed 16+1, a forum established by Beijing a decade ago as a vehicle for increasing trade and investment, was partly inspired by the Chinese reaction to Pelosi’s visit, as well as its “no-limits” partnership with Russia.

“It was definitely a factor that we kept in mind when making the decision. Before that, we consulted with a series of allies,” Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu told Bloomberg.

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