“Thanks to your support, bilateral exchanges have become much closer recently,” Tsai said during a meeting with the delegation.
Taiwan and Israel have signed 33 agreements to strengthen exchanges in education, public health and other areas during their 30-year informal relationship, including a tourism agreement signed last month. It also includes agreements.
03:47
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In February, Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DP) established its own Taiwan-Israel Friendship Parliamentary League. And in March, it donated US$500,000 to Israel’s Federation of Local Governments to support emergency response efforts in war-affected communities.
“I look forward to Taiwan and Israel leveraging each other’s industrial strengths, continuing to deepen our partnership based on shared values of freedom and democracy, and jointly building a more resilient global supply chain,” Tsai said. ” he said.
The delegation arrived on the island on April 12, shortly before Iran launched retaliatory missile attacks against Israel on April 13 following Israel’s attack on the Iranian embassy in Damascus on April 1. .
Toporovsky, a member of the liberal Zionist Yesh Atid party, called Taiwan a “true friend.” In his meeting with Tsai, he said Israel “saw and will never forget Taiwan’s support after the October 7 attack on Israel,” referring to last year’s attack on Israel by Hamas. He mentioned the support provided by Taiwan in response to the recent attack on Iran. .
“Taiwan and Israelis have much in common in that they are small but strong democracies in a difficult environment,” Toporovsky said, according to a press release from the Taiwan Presidential Office. “The time has come for our friendship to grow even stronger and to cooperate in more areas.”
The bipartisan Israeli delegation met with Taiwanese government officials and members of Congress during the trip.Photo: Handout
The delegation attended an annual Holocaust Remembrance Day event held by Taipei together with the representative offices of Israel and Germany.
The visit faced backlash from the Taiwanese public. Last Tuesday, protesters gathered outside the Legislative Yuan to denounce Tsai’s meeting with Israelis and call on Taiwanese lawmakers from the Taiwan-Israel Friendship Parliamentary League to address the situation in Gaza.
“Taiwan joins peace-loving democratic partners around the world in condemning the war and calls on all parties to exercise restraint and resolve differences,” the office of friendly group representative Zheng Chia-bin told Taiwan News. . Through communication to avoid continued escalation of the crisis. ”
Relations between Israel and Taipei have been warming in recent years, partly due to the influence of the United States, while relations between China and Israel have gradually cooled.
In Israel, the “anti-China wave” began long before the October 7 attack by Hamas, with China vocally supporting the Palestinians, calling for a ceasefire, and holding talks with Hamas leaders. Israel made China believe that China was not a friend, and perhaps not even a partner. , (it) is a threat. So maybe we should be less afraid of cooperating with Taiwan and do other things,” said Mol Sobol, assistant professor of international affairs at Taipei’s Tamkang University.
Sobol said that although no new agreements were signed during last week’s visit, the wartime visit of Israeli lawmakers to Taiwan was important.
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Mainland China’s response to the Israeli war is seen as a stark contrast to that of Taiwan, which quickly condemned the October 7 attack, which killed more than 1,100 people, as terrorism. Israelis also noted and expressed their gratitude for Taipei’s immediate condemnation of Iran’s attack on Israel, which Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said “caused serious damage to world peace and stability.”
Despite rising tensions between Israel and mainland China, trade between the two countries continued to grow in 2023. Analysts expect good trade relations between Israel and China to continue, but say the decline in security cooperation over the past few years is likely to continue.
Abby Lee, Taiwan’s representative to Israel, said Taiwan sees the war as an opportunity to learn from Israel’s defense strategy and advance bilateral relations, and to show Israel that Taiwan is a “reliable partner.” said.
Relations between Taiwan and Israel have mainly developed in areas such as economics, environment, and education, and a number of new agreements have been signed in recent years. Bilateral trade has grown steadily, increasing to over USD 3.2 billion in 2022 from USD 2.4 billion the previous year.
04:15
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Taiwan has expressed particular interest in expanding ties with Israel, not only in defense but also in technology and innovation.
“(Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs) has become more confident, not only in think tank circles but also in the defense context, to be less passive and more proactive in seeking and promoting cooperation in Israel. I think there are,’ from public servants,” Sobol said.
However, while Taiwan has expressed much interest in informal defense cooperation, little action has been taken. Sobol said this is partly because Israel is preoccupied with the war, partly because the security relationship is sensitive, but partly because Taiwan’s plans are vague. said.
Taiwan has said it wants to learn more from Israel’s cyber, intelligence and reservist mobilization, but says it is “uneasy to understand what we want to extract, how to do it, and how to synchronize it with the Taiwanese context.” We don’t have a concrete understanding of what happens,” Sobol said.
