INTERVIEW/Taiwan's top diplomat lays out plan to secure remaining alliances

Taipei, Oct. 11 (CNA) Well aware that Taiwan has lost 10 formal diplomatic allies since 2016, Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) laid out a new plan Friday to keep the country's 12 remaining allies in the fold by further helping them develop and prosper.

In an interview with CNA, Lin said the 12 countries that still formally recognize the Republic of China (Taiwan's official title), are very important to Taiwan, but that the days of using "checkbook diplomacy" with Beijing are over.

Instead, he said, as China uses every possible means to snatch away more allies from Taiwan, "we are trying to use Taiwan's successful model or experience to help our allies develop in a way that benefits their country."

That is why Taiwan is now proposing a seven-point flagship project with the aim of helping these allied countries with their development, supported by Taiwan's technological advancements, Lin said.

The project's seven key areas cover semiconductor and supply chain resilience, trustworthy digital governance, new energy and carbon credits, smart science park development, smart health care, new agricultural innovation, and artificial intelligence.

Taiwan has plenty of experience and expertise in these areas to share with its allies, and as long as they develop further, Taiwan's diplomatic ties with them will grow stronger, Lin believed.

Taiwan is now in talks with each of its 12 allies to tailor specific projects to help them prosper based on their respective needs, Lin said.

Discussions with Belize, for example, are focusing on helping it meet Taiwan's technical requirements so that its shrimp can be exported to Taiwan, according to Lin.

The ministry is also working on encouraging more exports of Guatemalan coffee to Taiwan after China banned the import of coffee and macadamia nuts from the Central American country earlier this year without providing any explanation.

Taiwan is not alone in its battle with China to keep its 12 allies around the globe, mostly located in the South Pacific, Latin America, and the Caribbean, Lin said.

The United States, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand are working closely with Taiwan in maintaining its formal allies, worried that if others were to defect to Beijing, it could be a breaking point in the Second Island Chain, Lin argued.

"We are not looking at diplomatic relations from a simple bilateral relations point of view. We are now looking at a larger regional relations," Lin said.

Beyond helping allies, the project could be beneficial to Taiwan as well, not just diplomatically but economically, according to the foreign minister.

If the ministry helps more Taiwanese businesses set foot in allied countries, it will also boost Taiwan's presence in these areas and enable the companies to venture into markets around the world, Lin said.

Since former President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) first took office in May 2016, the Republic of China has lost 10 diplomatic allies to the People's Republic of China amid deteriorating cross-Taiwan Strait relations.

The most recent ally to switch sides was the Pacific island country of Nauru, on Jan. 15, just two days after Taiwan's 2024 presidential election.

Relations with U.S., Japan, Philippines

Aside from enhancing its ties with the 12 official allies, Taiwan is also working hard to strengthen relations with non-allies and like-minded countries around the world, including the U.S., Japan, and the Philippines.

Lin told CNA that he believes Taiwan's cordial relations with its most important ally, the U.S., will not be affected no matter who wins the U.S. presidential election in November, and that relations with Japan should also remain close.

Though Japan recently got a new prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, Lin said the two countries will continue to engage in close exchanges on all fronts despite the lack of official diplomatic ties and will remain closely interconnected on security due to their geographic proximity.

The two sides are also continuing their cooperation on humanitarian aid during major disasters and information sharing, Lin said.

He also hoped that Taiwan and Japan can further enhance economic and trade relations by signing an economic partnership agreement in the near future to take bilateral integration to even higher level.

The Philippines is another country in the region that would play a critical role in any potential conflict between Taiwan and China, Lin noted.

Like Taiwan, the Philippines is also facing Chinese suppression and harassment as well as economic coercion amid South China Sea territorial disputes, according to Lin.

"This is why we also wish to boost our economic and trade ties with the Philippines to help them combat China's [economic coercion]."

Lin, a former Presidential Office secretary-general under Tsai, became Taiwan's top diplomat on May 20 when new President Lai Ching-te (賴清德), who had been vice president during Tsai's second term, took office.