As Israel’s foreign ties falter amid Gaza war, Taiwan sees chance to cosy up to Israel
- Taipei views conflict in Middle East as opportunity to learn from Israel’s defence strategy and foster friendly relations
- While Beijing is still important economically, Israel is looking for partners in Asia that offer ‘less ideological criticism’, analyst says ⠀
Lee said that in the wake of the Hamas attack, Taiwan has shown it is a “reliable partner” to Israel. ⠀
Taiwan’s desire for warmer ties with Israel began long before the October 7 attack. Bilateral trade between the two has grown steadily in recent years, rising to over US$3.2 billion in 2022 from US$2.4 billion the previous year.
Taiwanese media and officials often speak with admiration for Israel’s strong military and make comparisons between Taiwan and Israel as two isolated democracies with strong tech sectors.
Taiwan has expressed more interest in “track-two” defence cooperation, referring to non-governmental or unofficial cooperation, and is interested in learning from Israel’s civil defence and reserve system.
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