Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung sat for a joint interview with the Taipei correspondents of Nikkei News and Nikkei Asia on January 3. The interview has received great international attention after related articles were published on January 7, in English with the headline “Taiwan foreign minister vows to work with Trump on democratic supply chain,” and in Japanese with the headline “Taiwan foreign minister seeks to deepen cooperation with Japan on responding to natural disasters.”
During the interview, Minister Lin indicated that China’s rise had challenged the rules-based international order and that Taiwan was a tipping point for the global balance of power; not merely a pawn, but rather a player. Minister Lin stressed that Taiwan had increased its defense spending to 2.5 percent of GDP, higher than Japan or most NATO members. He said that Taiwan was responding to US President-elect Donald Trump’s appeals, strengthening its self-defense resolve, further increasing its military budget, and deepening Taiwan-US security cooperation. According to Minister Lin, Taiwan hoped to discuss with the United States ways to expedite delivery of delayed military hardware shipments, for example by tapping Taiwan’s manufacturing prowess to speed up production by friend-shoring. Minister Lin also noted that Taiwan-US cooperation on drone R&D was exceedingly important because such machines were at the heart of asymmetrical deterrence of China’s use of military force.
Concerning Taiwan-Japan relations, Minister Lin stated that he hoped to engage in further exchanges and cooperation with Japan on disaster relief and humanitarian aid efforts. For example, last July, Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration and Japan’s Coast Guard engaged in the two nations’ first-ever joint rescue exercise. Through responding to natural disasters, both sides could gain experience with cooperation. Minister Lin also suggested that the two sides engage in greater cooperation on patrols and first island chain security, in particular on developing drones and security affairs, so as to jointly address the military threat posed by China.
In the economic sphere, Minister Lin pointed out that Taiwan was the linchpin in the global semiconductor supply chain and had become a focus of global investment. This, in turn, increased Taiwan’s stature with regard to international economic cooperation. Minister Lin called on the Japanese government to expedite the signing of an economic partnership agreement with Taiwan, as this would spur closer economic links and be beneficial to Taiwan’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). He also said that Taiwan and Japan had already signed roughly 90 cooperation accords and should work toward signing a more substantive economic agreement.
Minister Lin further elaborated that Taiwan’s strategy of integrated diplomacy consisted of the three pillars of values-based diplomacy, alliance diplomacy, and economic and trade diplomacy. He spoke about democratic, non-red supply chains as a strategic way of addressing China’s red supply chains. Minister Lin stressed that China was attempting to use the Belt and Road Initiative and Digital Silk Road to influence the economies and information security of other nations. To counter the rise of expansionist China, Taiwan was leveraging its strengths in semiconductors and AI to work with like-minded partners on creating more resilient democratic suppliers that did not rely on China. Taiwan was an important force for regional peace and global prosperity as well as a trustworthy partner in defending global economic security. Minister Lin added that Taiwan would work with all like-minded nations to continue strengthening cooperation and opposing China’s authoritarian expansionism.
The Nikkei Asia article also introduced Minister Lin’s new book, A Country Where the Economic Sun Never Sets, which discussed how Taiwan’s semiconductor industry had made Taiwan a global investment destination, causing Taiwan Strait security to become a global issue and increasing Taiwan’s global status, affording it the ability to act as a middle power diplomatically.
Nikkei News is one of Japan’s five largest nationwide newspapers. Since purchasing the Financial Times in 2015, it has become one of the world’s largest media conglomerates. Nikkei Asia is an English-language publication of the firm that focuses on Asia and provides discourse on international events from an Asian perspective. Reporters involved in the interview included Nikkei News Taipei bureau chief Nonushi Hata and reporter Hideaki Tatsumoto as well as Nikkei Asia Taiwan-based reporters Thompson Chau, Ting-fang Cheng, and Lauly Li.
