FM touts 'Taiwan model' for Europe ties at Warsaw forum

Taipei, Oct. 14 (CNA)Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) on Tuesday promoted what he called the "Taiwan Model" in a keynote address at the Warsaw Security Forum in Poland, presenting Taiwan as a high-tech powerhouse and a trusted partner in European reindustrialization.

Lin told the audience that reindustrialization and rearmament are shared goals for Taiwan and Europe amid rising threats from authoritarian regimes in Russia and China.

Russia's war in Ukraine has exposed the dangers of Europe's dependence on an authoritarian energy supplier, he said.

"What is happening in Ukraine is shaping the security of Warsaw, of Berlin, of Paris--and, indeed, of Taipei. In an interconnected world, the front lines of freedom are no longer separated by geographical landscape," he said.

Lin added that with the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), the world is undergoing the fastest technological transformation in modern history.

"Europe, like many others, cannot tackle these challenges alone. This is where Taiwan comes in," he said.

"Taiwan sits at the center of the world's most cutting-edge supply chains. We make the overwhelming majority of the most advanced semiconductors. We are a global powerhouse in electronics and precision manufacturing. We produce the very hardware on which AI runs.

"Our strengths are not a threat to Europe's; they are complementary to them," he said.

While Europe leads in industrial machinery, automotive engineering, chemicals and design, "Taiwan brings the chips, the components, and the manufacturing ecosystem that can turn European ambition into finished, competitive products," Lin added.

Beyond technological know-how, Taiwan is also a partner Europe can trust, according to the minister.

By contrast, he said, the alternative "China Model" is one that "does not play by the rules of the world trading system. It relies on massive state subsidies and unfair, nonmarket practices to undercut and overwhelm European competitors."

"Its aim is not mutual benefit; it is dominance--to make Europe dependent and to control European markets, and ultimately, reduce a continent to the status of an economic dependency," Lin said.

This is the second consecutive year Lin has attended the annual forum. The forum, one of Europe's major security conferences, focuses on strengthening trans-Atlantic cooperation and addressing security and defense challenges in Central and Eastern Europe.

While in Poland, Lin visited the planned site of the Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association (TEEMA) Technology Park on Monday, according to a Ministry of Foreign Affairs press release. The park is being developed by the Taipei-based TEEMA.

Once completed, the park will help strengthen supply chain resilience and contribute to Europe's reindustrialization goals, Lin was quoted as saying in the release.