Taiwan's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs François Chihchung Wu (吳志中) addressed the European Parliament's Subcommittee on Security and Defence (SEDE) on May 6 in what officials confirmed was the first formal appearance by a Taiwan foreign ministry official of his rank before an official parliamentary committee plenary. Speaking in both English and French before members of the European Parliament (MEPs) in Brussels, Wu argued that Taiwan's security is inseparable from European security — and that defending Taiwan means defending the international order itself.
A Historic First at the European Parliament
The session was chaired by SEDE Committee Chair Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, who led an official parliamentary delegation to Taiwan in late March and early April, meeting President Lai Ching-te (賴清德), Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), and senior officials from the legislature, National Security Council, Mainland Affairs Council, Ministry of National Defense, and Institute for National Defense and Security Research. The morning session was titled "Follow-up on the visit to Taiwan and the regional security situation." Taiwan's Representative to the European Union and Belgium, Hsieh Chih-wei (謝志偉), also took part.
The visit builds on a pattern of deepening institutional ties between Taipei and the European Parliament. Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) attended a session there in November 2025 at the invitation of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), and Foreign Minister Lin also called on MEPs in Brussels in November 2024. Tuesday's session, however, was the first time a deputy foreign minister addressed a formal committee plenary — a distinction Wu described on social media as "a great honor" in his diplomatic career and proof that Taiwan's international standing is growing.
Closing the session, Strack-Zimmermann called it "another new chapter in history."
China Is Rewriting the Rules Across Three Domains, Wu Warns
Wu framed the current global environment not as ordinary strategic competition but as a deeper structural transformation. China, he argued, is acting as a "revisionist power" — one that seeks to dismantle the rules-based international order and replace it with a system in which all outcomes require Beijing's approval.
He identified three domains where this shift is already underway. First, Beijing is constructing political gatekeeping mechanisms inside international institutions, demanding prior approval for participation. Second, China is actively reinterpreting maritime norms to erode international law. Third, Wu warned, Beijing has extended this approach into civil aviation — pressuring African nations to revoke flight permits without warning, politicizing and weaponizing civilian airspace rights in ways that threaten the neutrality of the global aviation system.
The World Health Organization served as Wu's sharpest example. A body designed to be universal and inclusive, he said, has been reduced to an instrument of Beijing's political calculations, with Taiwan excluded despite its proven capacity to contribute. "When international participation is contingent on the political approval of a single entity," he told MEPs, "multilateralism is no longer genuinely multilateral."
Wu also cautioned that acquiescing to Beijing's claim that the Taiwan Strait constitutes domestic waters would set a precedent with consequences for every major international waterway. He cited the revocation of overflight clearance for President Lai's aircraft under Chinese pressure as "a dangerous precedent" that Europe should not ignore.
The Taiwan Strait Carries More Shipping Than Suez and Panama Combined
Wu urged MEPs to grasp Taiwan's centrality to global trade. More than 60,000 container vessels transit the Taiwan Strait each year — roughly three times the volume that passes through either the Panama Canal or the Suez Canal. Any disruption to the strait, he said, would have immediate and cascading consequences for global supply chains, energy flows, and economic stability.
He also pointed to the expanding arc of China's military ambitions, noting that Beijing's reach is stretching toward Japan, Australia, and beyond. Citing NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte's (呂特) observation that Indo-Pacific and European security are increasingly interconnected, Wu called on Europe and Taiwan to convert their shared responsibility into concrete action — including defense industry cooperation, protection of critical undersea infrastructure, and coordinated responses to hybrid threats.
Taiwan, he noted, has already responded to rising pressure by raising its defense spending to 3.3 percent of gross domestic product this year while strengthening whole-of-society resilience. "Defending Taiwan," he said, "is defending the international order itself."
Taiwan's Chips Are Inseparable from European Supply Chains
Responding to questions from MEPs, Wu pushed back against the framing that freedom of navigation in the Taiwan Strait is merely a matter of "helping Taiwan." Sustaining regional stability, he argued, directly serves European strategic and economic interests.
He also addressed China's information and legal warfare around United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758, noting that the resolution makes no mention of Taiwan. Beijing, he said, has deliberately conflated its own "One China Principle" with the distinct "One China Policy" maintained by individual governments. Taiwan retains diplomatic relations with 12 countries and remains a sovereign state. He recommended that European governments follow Germany's approach: explicitly stating that their own governments, not Beijing, define the scope of their "One China Policy."
On the question of whether Taiwan is truly a European core interest, Wu was unambiguous. Beijing may insist Taiwan is China's core interest, he said, but Taiwan is equally a core interest for the United States, Japan, Europe, and the broader international community. He pointed to deep supply chain interdependence as evidence: advanced chip production in Taiwan cannot function without equipment from Dutch firm ASML, which in turn depends on optical technology from Germany's Zeiss. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company also maintains extensive collaboration with France's Air Liquide. This web of mutual reliance, Wu argued, stands in stark contrast to China's drive toward self-sufficiency — a drive that poses structural risks to global economic balance.
Arms Procurement Has Broad Public Support Despite Legislative Hurdles
On the politically sensitive question of Taiwan's defense procurement, Wu was candid about the domestic impasse. The government is firmly committed to expanding defense spending, he said, but the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) has blocked the relevant legislative measures — a stance Wu described as "very shocking," given the KMT's historical identity as Chiang Kai-shek's party and an adversary of the Chinese Communist Party. He expressed concern about what he called an apparent emerging alignment between the two.
Nonetheless, Wu expressed confidence that Taiwan would complete its planned weapons purchases, potentially through alternative legislative arrangements. He noted that fractures within the KMT offered grounds for cautious optimism. And he emphasized that approximately 60 percent of public opinion in Taiwan supports the government's defense procurement program — a broad social consensus that exists independently of the legislative deadlock.
Speaking to reporters in Brussels afterward, Wu said the session's scale and formality reflected Taiwan's growing international standing, according to the Central News Agency. The Storm Media was unable to independently verify all details of the closed-door committee proceedings.
