Taiwan: Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Mr. Joseph Wu has visited the Czech capital, Prague, calling for European support in securing peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait shared with China.

“In order for Taiwan to stay strong and resilient and to have the courage to continue the policy of maintaining the status quo, we do need support from European friends,” Mr. Wu stated in a speech at a conference in Prague.

The Foreign Minister was in the European Union nation for a meeting with Mr. Milos Vystrcil, the President of the Czech Senate, who has been trying to foster the republic’s relations with Taiwan over the past few years. The Czech Republic has no diplomatic relations with Taiwan.

The country’s centre-right government, in power since 2021, and President Mr. Petr Pavel, who took office in March, have been keen on improving ties with Taipei after years of warming up to Beijing.

But Mr. Wu’s trip to Europe has angered China, with Beijing claiming Taiwan as its own territory.

Mr. Wang Lutong, China’s director-general for European affairs, said the Taiwan question is at the “core of the core interests of China”. “We urge the European side not to provide stages for separatist activities for ‘Taiwan independence’,” Mr. Lahong said in a tweet.

Taiwan has no formal diplomatic ties with any European country except the Vatican. But it maintains extensive informal relations, and Central and Eastern European countries have been particularly keen to show support for Taiwan, especially following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

With respect to maintaining peace in the Taiwan Strait, some EU leaders have expressed their support. In April, the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, told France’s Le Journal du Dimanche that EU nations should send warships to patrol the Taiwan Strait.

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