While the US has long dominated the global arms market, a recent arms show in Taiwan saw Europe emerge as a new player, seeking to aid the island against an increasingly aggressive China.
Taiwan has long relied on the US as its primary arms supplier, with the previous three decades seeing no significant orders from Europe. Reporting suggested this might be out of fear of “incurring the wrath of Beijing.” Taiwan rejects sovereignty claims from China, reaffirming that only Taiwan’s people can determine their future.
Ever since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Taipei has found an increasingly sympathetic audience in parts of Central and Eastern Europe.
Taiwan’s defence minister, Wellington Koo, last week visited the Czech pavilion at the Taipei Aerospace and Defence Technology Exhibition, where he was greeted by Pavel Fischer, chairman of the Czech Senate’s foreign affairs, defence and security committee.
“Today in Taiwan we have many partners to work with,” Mr Fischer told Reuters. “We know the complexity of Taiwan in the international arena, because of the active measures by the Communist Party of China.”
The German Trade Office Taipei participated in the exhibition for the first time, saying it was showcasing “Germany’s innovative achievements and industrial strength in the fields of aerospace and security”. Airbus also made its debut, displaying a large Flexrotor tactical vertical take-off and landing drone, designed for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions lasting up to 14 hours. The model bore a sticker declaring: “I ♥ Taiwan.”
An Airbus spokesman said its stand was promoting more than commercial aircraft. “These include helicopter applications for supporting search-and-rescue missions, emergency services and law enforcement, as well as secure communications services,” he said.
Europe’s presence was underlined further when Taiwan’s foreign minister, Lin Chia-lung, visited Prague, Rome and Vienna earlier this month. China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, had been in Austria just a week before.
American firms remained dominant at the show, including Lockheed Martin, maker of the F-16 fighter jet, the backbone of Taiwan’s air force. By contrast, Europe has not provided Taipei with big-ticket items for three decades. When the Netherlands sold Taiwan two submarines in the 1980s, Beijing was so enraged that The Hague pledged to halt further arms sales. France sold Taiwan six frigates in 1991 and 60 Mirage jets the following year, but has provided no other major weapons systems since.
Britain, however, is helping Taiwan build its first indigenous submarines. “There is much less caution now. The world has changed because of Ukraine,” an executive at a Taiwanese drone manufacturer told Reuters.
[Image: https://www.airbus.com/en/newsroom/stories/2024-06-flexrotor-the-25kg-force-multiplier]