Either a false alarm or the start of a historic change. With a unified European response on Taiwan, the EU will truly be a geopolitical entity for the first time.
The European Union is willing to support Taiwan in its effort against China, as a statement from its Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell signals. This declaration comes days after French president Emmanuel Macron’s call for Europe to “not be caught up” in the Taiwanese crisis.
Taiwan is a de facto independent country off the shores of mainland China. It tore apart from the mainland in 1949 following the end of the Chinese Civil War. The losing side, the Nationalists, found refuge on Taiwan as the winners, the Communists, could not invade the island for a lack of a navy.
Taiwan is a highly complex and functioning democracy, closely allied to the United States. Washington pledged many times that, in case of a Chinese invasion, they’d defend Taiwan men on the ground.
This apparently does not sit well with France, whose president Emmanuel Macron called for an European independent policy on the matter. France too has an interest in the Pacific as it still controls many overseas territories there.
Josep Borrell, however, replied that it’s fully in the EU’s interest that Taiwan remains independent. In fact, he called for European navies to patrol the Taiwanese strait alongside the American fleet.
An active foreign policy
What the European Union truly lacks as a political entity is a unified, or in fact any kind of foreign policy. At least, that was true until 2022, when the Russian invasion of Ukraine changed the cards on the table.
When Russia invaded Ukraine, starting the biggest war on European soil in 80 years, the EU had a coordinated, fast and objectively strong response. Sure, there were plenty of hiccups and delays, with not every country agreeing on every policy, but it was nevertheless unprecedented.
Never before could the European Union give such a coordinated response on a foreign policy issue. So far, every unified policy concerned financial, economical or societal issues.
Indeed, until 2022 it was clear that nations within the European Union had completely different foreign policies, often contrasting with each other. The war in Ukraine changed everything.
Now, the European Union seems to be taking steps towards a similar unified response, this time on an issue on the other side of the globe. If Europe manages to agree on a unified response on Taiwan, it will be conclusive evidence of a newly reached political unity.
From there, talks of a European army, navy or even constitution would not be completely fictional, like they used to be until last year. A lot has to be done, but the gears of history have been put into motion. This can either be a false alarm or a truly societal-changing moment.
