Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

In September last year, Vice President William Lai (賴清德) attended the Hacks in Taiwan Conference, a cybersecurity conference held annually in Taiwan. He said: “Taiwan is in a key position on the first island chain and faces a grave threat from China. It suffers 30 million cyberattacks every month.”

Echoing President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) belief that “cybersecurity is national security,” Lai advocates a policy for enhancing the cybersecurity industry on par with the West’s.

While China is losing its luster in Europe, Taiwan’s importance is growing in the eyes of European countries. Against the backdrop of Beijing’s worsening image, European states should work with Taipei to develop a robust and sustainable relationship.

Amid Taiwan’s vaccine shortage, European partners donated COVID-19 vaccines to help Taiwan. Lithuania was the first EU member state to donate vaccines to Taiwan, with 20,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. The Czech Republic followed with a donation of 30,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine last month. Poland donated 400,000 AstraZeneca doses this month and Slovakia has pledged to donate 10,000 doses.