Taiwan may seem distant to most Europeans, but the island’s takeover by China would send shockwaves from Washington to Tokyo, said Taiwan’s Deputy Foreign Minister François Chih-chung Wu in an interview with Euronews Next. "If China attacks Taiwan, France, Europe, the US, and Japan will all be affected. Taiwan will be in a very bad situation, but so will you," he warned.
The deputy minister challenged China’s claim that Taiwan has been its territory since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949. Beijing has never ruled out using force to bring the self-governing island under its control and refuses to recognize Taiwan as a sovereign state, insisting on referring to it internationally as "Chinese Taipei."
This naming reflects China’s "one China" policy, which asserts Taiwan is part of China. Taiwan’s official name is the Republic of China, a legacy from the government that retreated to the island after losing the civil war to Mao Zedong’s communist forces.
According to Wu, Taiwan’s history is far more complex than the narrative that it has always been part of China; the island was ruled at different times by the Dutch, Spanish, Qing Empire, and Japan. The Qing Dynasty governed part of Taiwan for over a century, but the island only gained real strategic importance and was organized as a province between 1885 and 1894.
This means the continuous sovereignty claims China maintains today contradict the fact that genuine strategic interest existed for only about a decade. "China was not the only country there," Wu said, arguing that this history does not justify Beijing’s ambitions. Since then, Taiwan has developed a technological edge the world depends on.
In particular, one company, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), produces over 90% of the world’s most advanced semiconductor chips. This technology is vital for artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, smartphones, and military systems.
Silicon ShieldNvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang last week described Taiwan as "the world’s best supply chain" and "the epicenter of the AI revolution." Although the US and other countries are trying to rebuild chip production domestically, it is not expected to catch up soon, as mastering this field takes decades and Taiwan has been building precise manufacturing capacity since the 1970s.
"About 70% of all semiconductors are produced in Taiwan; 95% of the most advanced chips and 100% of AI chips come from Taiwan," Wu said. "In a tiny semiconductor the size of a fingertip, Taiwanese engineers can fit more than 10 billion circuit elements. This is our expertise.
We have the will to share this with democratic countries and even for the good of humanity," he added. Wu noted that over 60,000 container ships pass annually through the Taiwan Strait, which separates the island from the Asian continent and is 180 kilometers wide. He estimates this is three times the number of containers passing through the Panama and Suez Canals combined.
"You can imagine how global interests would be harmed if China attacks Taiwan or even imposes a blockade around it," he said. For this reason, regional stability is a "global responsibility," Wu said, emphasizing that Taiwan is "not naive." "So why should France protect Taiwan? We have never been a French country; why would France do this?
But France has very important interests in the region and is an Indo-Pacific country," he said, adding that the same applies to Europe as a whole. Taiwan also has strong interests in Europe.
Advanced photolithography machines used in semiconductor production come from the Netherlands, precision optics from Germany’s Zeiss, industrial gases from France’s Air Liquide, and chip design tools from IMEC in Leuven, Belgium. "All of Europe is inside that one square centimeter of silicon," he said. Meanwhile, Taiwanese companies are forming partnerships and launching investments in Europe.
Recently, Taiwanese giant Foxconn and France’s Thales group entered a partnership for semiconductors and space data centers. However, Wu said that as Taiwan becomes more attractive to international partners, China’s concern grows. "China feels it is about to lose Taiwan, so it is trying to use every means at its disposal to take it," he said. "In the Chinese mindset, once Chinese, always Chinese.
This is a very big problem." Despite all this tension, Taiwan’s economy has continued to grow; according to data compiled by Bloomberg this year, the country’s stock market has outperformed Germany and France. "Fear is, in a way, not a bad thing," the official said. "Because we prepare precisely because we are afraid. Taiwan has been threatened by China for 70 years, yet we have still achieved democracy and prosperity," Wu said.
Asked about the summit in May between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, where Xi reportedly reiterated China’s claim over Taiwan, Wu said, "From our perspective, there has been no change in American policy," recalling that immediately after the meeting, the Speaker of the House reaffirmed US support for the island.
Connection with EuropeAlthough the US is one of Taiwan’s main allies, Europe is also very important for the island. "I believe Europeans are beginning to understand that we cannot leave it to China to choose our friends," he said. "Europeans certainly have the right to choose their friends, and choosing friends does not necessarily mean official diplomatic relations.
"However, Wu acknowledged that building ties with Europe is difficult. "China is doing everything it can to block everything related to us," he said. "A country as important as Taiwan should have the opportunity to discuss all vital matters with you through normal channels, but we cannot do that; so naturally, things get complicated.
"But looking at the outcomes again, we see more and more opportunities for Taiwan and Europe to discuss issues in a low-profile way. This is also thanks to human creativity; we can imagine every possible formula to work together," he added. He stressed that "Taiwan does not need to declare independence," pointing out that the island is not Hong Kong because it has its own army and foreign policy.
"We are forced to maintain a very difficult balance: on one hand, defending our democracy and way of life; on the other, trying not to provoke China too much and finding our way in a world where neutrality often ends up favoring China." However, Wu does not want Europe to go to war for Taiwan; what he wants is friendship. "When you marry, you don’t ask your spouse if they are ready to die for you. You build a relationship.
You work together. And from that, a natural strength emerges," he said. "A Taiwan story is being written right now, and I truly believe in the resilience of the Taiwanese people.".
