The EU`s Taiwan policy in a new context

Abstract

The rise of China, the European Union`s (EU`s) increasing trade deficit with the People`s Republic of China (PRC), and the ongoing negotiations on a new cooperative agreement have all recently contributed to the growing debate over the EU`S China policy. Following the coming into effect of the Lisbon Treaty, new trends in Asian integration and particularly the fruitful détente between the PRC and Taiwan have been exerting in creasing pressure on the EU to rethink and reformulate its current strategy on China and its policy toward Taiwan. A review of the development of the EU-Taiwan relationship over the past three decades will be followed by an analysis of the structural factors that have shaped it. Emerging new factors will be examined and their probable consequences for this bilateral relationship will be evaluated in order to understand the measures that the EU may adopt in the Taiwan Strait in the new regional and inter-regional context. According to the author`s analysis, the EU is under increasing pressure to adopt a more active and politicized strategy in the Strait. In pursuit of its long term interests, the EU should cooperate with the United States vis-à-vis the PRC and insist upon its core values during its engagement in the Strait.