Michael Mazza On Taiwan: Secret Diplomacy? Mr. Wu Goes to Israel

By: Michael Mazza | Taipei Times |

“Is a new foreign partner for Taiwan emerging in the Middle East? Last week, Taiwanese media reported that Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) secretly visited Israel, a country with whom Taiwan has long shared unofficial relations but which has approached those relations cautiously. In the wake of China’s implicit but clear support for Hamas and Iran in the wake of the October 2023 assault on Israel, Jerusalem’s calculus may be changing. Both small countries facing literal existential threats, Israel and Taiwan have much to gain from closer ties.

In his recent op-ed for the Washington Post, President William Lai Ching-te (賴清德) announced his intention to quicken “the development of ‘T-Dome,’ a multilayered, integrated defense system designed to protect Taiwan from People’s Republic of China (PRC) missiles, rockets, drones and combat aircraft.” T-Dome takes its inspiration from Israel’s Iron Dome, which protects Israel from short-range projectiles, and which effectively neutered the rocket threat from Hamas, Hezbollah, and other nearby enemies.”

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