foreign relations of Taiwan

Historical context

The ROC government participated in the 1943 Moscow Conference, the Dumbarton Oaks Conference, and the United Nations Conference on International Organization and was a charter member of the United Nations after participating in the alliance that won World War II. In 1949, the Nationalists lost the Chinese Civil War in mainland China and retreated to Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu, forming a rump state. Despite the major loss of territory, the ROC continued to be recognized as the legitimate government of China by the UN and by many non-Communist states.

American foreign policy 1950–1971 called for full recognition and support of the government of China in Taiwan. As the Korean War (1950–1953) broke out, Taiwan was not allowed to send military support to South Korea. However, the Truman Administration resumed economic and military aid to the ROC on Taiwan and neutralized the Taiwan Strait by sending the United States Seventh Fleet to stop a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) invasion and a potential ROC counter-invasion of the mainland. In December 1954 a US-Taiwan military alliance was signed as part of the American Cold War strategy in the Far East, in the determination not to allow Chiang Kai-shek's forces on Taiwan to attack China, thereby setting off another even larger war between the United States and China.

The American military presence in Taiwan consisted of the Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) and the United States Taiwan Defense Command (USTDC). Other notable units included the 327th Air Division. Until the US formally recognized the People's Republic of China in 1979, Washington provided the ROC with financial grants based on the Foreign Assistance Act, Mutual Security Act, and Act for International Development enacted by the US Congress. A separate Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty was signed between the two governments of US and ROC in 1954 and lasted until 1979.

The US State Department's official position in 1959 was:

That the provisional capital of the Republic of China has been at Taipei, Taiwan (Formosa) since December 1949; that the Government of the Republic of China exercises authority over the island; that the sovereignty of Formosa has not been transferred to China; and that Formosa is not a part of China as a country, at least not as yet, and not until and unless appropriate treaties are hereafter entered into. Formosa may be said to be a territory or an area occupied and administered by the Government of the Republic of China, but is not officially recognized as being a part of the Republic of China.

1971 expulsion from the UN

In 1971, the UN expelled the ROC and transferred China's seat to the People's Republic of China (PRC). In addition to the ad tempus recognition of the ROC by a majority of countries before UN Resolution 2758, the ROC lost its membership in all intergovernmental organisations related to the UN. As the UN and related organizations like the International Court of Justice are the most common venues for effective execution of international law and serve as the international community for sovereign states, a majority of the countries aligned with the West in the Cold War terminated diplomatic relations with the ROC and opened diplomatic relations with the PRC.

The United Nations Charter's Articles 23 and 110, in its Chapter II, explicitly refer to the ROC, but the seat of "China" is currently occupied by the PRC. The ROC continues to maintain substantial relations, including with most of the non-governmental organisations at the United Nations, in addition with the concern from UNESCO. The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations was signed and ratified by the ROC on 18 April 1961 and 19 December 1969, including Optional Protocol concerning the Compulsory Settlement of Disputes. It is entitled by the founding of the United Nations as the cornerstone of modern-day diplomacy since the Vienna Congress, Article 35 of 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties also applies to the ROC since 1971. Due to the ROC's insecurity and intolerance in the 1970s and 1980s after it was expelled by the UN as well as American influence, the ROC gradually democratized and adopted universal suffrage, ending under the one-party leadership of President Chiang Ching-kuo by lifting 38 years of martial law on the Communist rebellion on mainland China and establishing the new self-identity of Republic of China (system) on Taiwan in the international community, enacting Two Chinas states in the world. UN Resolution 2758 is non-binding on the international law regarding the international status of the Republic of China on Taiwan, and the ROC continues to seek opportunities to join UN Specialized agencies to become a Permanent Observer under the auspices of UN Resolution 396, which duly recommended the questions of debate on Chinese representation in the United Nations.

Elections

The first direct presidential election was held in 1996, and the incumbent President Lee Teng-hui was elected. As of 4 May 2015, ROC nationals are eligible for preferential visa treatment from 142 countries and areas. In the context of superpower and influential diplomacy, the ROC's traditional and stable allies include United States of America, Canada, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. The ROC's cultural diplomacy includes the establishment of the Taiwan Resource Center for Chinese Studies in 2012 in major universities around the world.

Development assistance

Since 1950 Taiwan has given high priority to international aid, making its representatives welcome even in states without formal diplomatic relations. The policies provide generous aid without strict accountability conditions, especially in developing nations in Africa, Latin America, and the South Pacific. Building a reputation as a responsible and generous donor has earned it prestige, especially in contrast to the role of foreign aid in China's policies, such as the Belt and Road Initiative.

The ROC is one of the main supporters of official development assistance, with the International Cooperation and Development Fund managing ROC's Foreign Assistance and International Cooperation projects. As of 2010, along with other US security allies including Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and South Korea in the Asia-Pacific region with Taiwan Relations Act, officials of the ROC have gained quasi-official level visits to the United States both in the governmental and political level, including the Taiwanese–US cooperative military guidance in the annual Han Kuang joint-force exercises.

Think tanks

Taiwan's political system has evolved in terms of increasing political liberalization. By the 1990s, Taiwan had a democratic system with multiparty competition, factionalism, a vigorous civil society, and many interest groups. Think tanks emerged because of the high prestige of expertise and the heavy demand for unofficial diplomacy necessitated by the loss of formal diplomatic recognition. Think tanks have played a major role in planning and operationalizing relations with countries around the world.

European universities, research centers, and think tanks have developed a new academic field of Taiwan studies, especially in Europe, because of the unique status of Taiwan in the world's diplomatic system. The scholars involved have a deep commitment to Taiwan studies and have developed a Europe-wide network of scholars.

Policies

Economics

The ROC's GDP was ahead of several G20 economies before 2012.

UN specialized agencies

As a non-member state of the United Nations, by participating as members in one or more United Nations Specialized Agencies and operating in a parallel political system with the CCP as in the case of Germany and Korea, the ROC may be granted a Permanent Observer status in organisations such as the IMF and World Bank.

Involvement and participation in the Asia Pacific Innovation Conference allows interaction with the Director of Economics and Statistics Division of WIPO, who directly reports to the Director-General.

International isolation

Due to "the absence of a cross-strait understanding" (1992 consensus), the ROC has encountered international isolation due to political and economic pressure from the PRC since the 1970s, and it has continued under the pro-Taiwan independence administration of the Democratic Progressive Party. Taiwan is not allowed to attend the World Health Assembly, Interpol, International Civil Aviation Organization, or the United Nations' Kimberley Process Certification Scheme. Other forms of international isolation include measures against the activities of the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee, Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards (boycotted), and a ban on Taiwan journalists to acquire passes to United Nations and as well as UNFCCC meetings.

Analysts argue that PRC's coercive strategy might have proven counterproductive as it has further united US allies (including Australia and the UK) in their response, which in turn makes it more challenging for Beijing to achieve its intended geo-strategic objectives.

The ROC's (multi-sector) civil society currently participates in 11 projects of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. ROC ranks 31st of 176 countries and territories in the 2016 Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index.

International disputes

In the 1970s many countries switched diplomatic recognition from the ROC to the PRC, including the United States, Japan and Canada. In October 1971, Resolution 2758 was passed by the UN General Assembly, expelling "the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek" and transferring China's seat on the Security Council to the PRC. The resolution declared that "the representatives of the Government of the PRC are the only lawful representatives of China to the United Nations." However, the eo ipso nature of Taiwan and weapons of mass destruction remained a contentious issue.

Many attempts by the ROC to rejoin the UN have not made it past the committee, due to PRC opposition and threats of veto. President Chen Shui-bian argued that Resolution 2758, replacing the ROC with the PRC in 1971, addressed only the question of who should have China's seat in the UN rather than whether an additional seat for the Taiwan Area could be created to represent the 23 million people residing in the Taiwanese mainland and other islands.

Since the 1970s, the PRC and ROC have competed for diplomatic recognition from nations across the world, often by offering financial aid to poorer countries as an inducement. As a precondition for diplomatic relations, the PRC requires that the other country renounce any recognition of the ROC. Since the introduction of the "pragmatic diplomacy" (務實外交; Wùshí wàijiāo) policy in 1991, the ROC has not insisted on consideration as the sole representative of China, and does not require nations that recognize it to end their relations with the PRC. For example, when Saint Lucia chose to recognize the ROC in 2007, Foreign Minister Rufus Bousquet said the decision "should not be construed as a severance of our relationship with the PRC". However, the PRC responds to foreign recognitions of the ROC by suspending relations with the other country.

On less official terms, the ROC is involved in South China Sea disputes over control of the Spratly Islands with China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Brunei; and over the Paracel Islands, occupied by China, but claimed by Vietnam and by the ROC. The ROC government also claims the Senkaku Islands.

On October 14, 2024, China launched extensive military exercises near Taiwan in response to President Lai Ching-te's recent speech. Taiwan strongly criticized the move, and the U.S. raised concerns over rising tensions, with the drills marking part of China's broader pressure strategy.

Types of relations

Full diplomatic relations

The Republic of China (Taiwan) maintains full diplomatic relations with 11 member states of the United Nations and the Holy See (Vatican City), which is a United Nations General Assembly observer state.

Non-diplomatic representation

A certain number of countries have official diplomatic relations with the PRC but also maintain some form of unofficial diplomatic relations with Taiwan. This number includes 59 sovereign states, 3 dependent or quasi-dependent territories, and the European Union.

Unofficial diplomatic relations typically involve an "Economic, Trade and Cultural Office" in Taiwan for the partner country, as well as a corresponding "Taipei/Taiwan/ROC Representative Office" representing Taiwan within the partner country. These unofficial offices generally function as embassies despite not being officially named as such. For example, the American Institute in Taiwan functions as the United States' de facto embassy, with the chairman and staff acting as unofficial government consulate officers who nevertheless perform duties that official embassies would undertake.

Various countries host Taiwanese representative offices within themselves but do not have representative offices in Taiwan. One country, Luxembourg, has a representative office in Taiwan but does not host a Taiwanese representative office within itself; Taiwan's interests in Luxembourg are served by the Taipei Representative Office in the EU and Belgium. Taiwan also regards the European Union, with which it also has unofficial relations via the Taipei Representative Office in the EU and Belgium, as a state entity in the context of international relations; the EU is a supranational union with a high level of integration between its member states, though each member state retains its national sovereignty.

Taiwan has unofficial diplomatic relations with Hong Kong and Macau, both of which are Special Administrative Regions of the PRC, though Taiwan does not have such relations with Mainland China (the PRC). Technically, Hong Kong and Macau are integral territories of the PRC, governed under the "One Country, Two Systems" framework. This means that Taiwan effectively has unofficial relations with parts of the PRC but not with the national government of the PRC itself. Taiwan maintains hostile relations with the PRC through the Mainland Affairs Council, whose counterpart is the Taiwan Affairs Office; neither office is considered to be an embassy by either Taiwan or the PRC, and both offices are operated within the home country rather than within the host country.

Taiwan has strong unofficial relations with Somaliland, which is a self-declared state in the Horn of Africa that is claimed as the territory of neighbouring Somalia, in a state of affairs that displays strong parallels to Taiwan's own sovereignty dispute with China.

No representation

The following states recognize Beijing and have no representation in Taiwan (including any non-political, non-diplomatic, non-intergovernmental representation):

Relations with neither the ROC nor the PRC

A certain number of countries and a sovereign entity do not possess full diplomatic relations with either the ROC or the PRC. This includes one member state of the United Nations, seven de facto states, and one non-territorial sovereign entity (Sovereign Military Order of Malta).

Out of the seven de facto states that do not possess full diplomatic relations with Taiwan, one of them, Somaliland, has strong unofficial relations with Taiwan, while another, Kosovo, has been unilaterally recognized by Taiwan but does not recognize Taiwan in return. The other five de facto states have not been recognized by Taiwan diplomatically.

The Sovereign Military Order of Malta is a non-territorial sovereign entity; it claims and controls no territory, it does not consider itself to be a state, and yet it considers itself to be sovereign. The Order of Malta maintains full diplomatic relations with 110 sovereign states (including the Holy See), official relations with five other sovereign states, and ambassador-level relations with the European Union. The Order of Malta does not maintain full diplomatic relations with either Taiwan or the PRC. Even though the Order of Malta does not maintain full diplomatic relations with Taiwan, it has been involved in supporting Taiwan's participation in the UN-affiliated World Health Assembly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bhutan is the only member state of the United Nations that does not have full diplomatic relations with either the ROC or the PRC, though Bhutan recognizes PRC's sovereignty over Taiwan. The ROC has unilaterally recognized Bhutan as a sovereign state.

Relations switched from the ROC to the PRC

Taiwanese academics stated that if any one state switches its diplomatic relations to the PRC, it would create a domino effect, encouraging other states to do so as well. The Holy See (Vatican), the only European state that has diplomatic relations with Taiwan, made efforts in 2007 to create formal ties with the PRC. High-ranking bishops in the Catholic Church have implied that such a diplomatic move was possible, predicated on the PRC's granting more freedom of religion and interfering less in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church in China.

Bribery allegations

Taiwan has been accused on multiple occasions of bribing foreign politicians to commence or maintain diplomatic relations. The ex-president of Guatemala admitted in a U.S. court taking $2.5m from Taiwan in exchange for continuing to recognize it diplomatically. Regarding Taiwanese "dollar diplomacy" in Vanuatu a 2004 observer said: "the methods Taiwan uses, bribing countries and politicians, are unjust, violate international law and disturb the global community. Bribery diplomacy won't last." Prior to Nauru choosing to recognize the government of the People's Republic of China, Taiwan had provided Nauruan government ministers with a monthly stipend of $5,000 in exchange for continuation of the Pacific island country's diplomatic relations with Taipei. Nauruan politicians, including President Marcus Stephen received secret funds. Other MPs received $2,500 a month in what was described as project funding that requires minimal accounting.

History

Taiwan was annexed by Japan in 1895 after the First Sino-Japanese War. In the Northern Expedition, the Nationalists defeated the warlords of the Beiyang clique and established a unified government for China in Nanjing. The United States recognised Republic of China (ROC) on 25 July 1928, the first government to do so. The Japanese occupied parts of China during World War II. After Japan's defeat in 1945, Taiwan was placed under the temporary administration of the ROC to handle the surrender of Japanese administration. The Chinese Civil War broke out again between the Nationalists and the CCP. The CCP gained control of the mainland in 1949 and proclaimed the People's Republic of China (PRC), while the Nationalists fled to Taiwan, taking the ROC government with them. In 1952, Japan renounced Taiwan in the Treaty of San Francisco without specifying to whom Taiwan is ceded.

In 2016, A. P. Winston, the author of Chinese Finance under the Republic, said, "chief sources of information on those matters of discussion which have been subjects of diplomacy" were official publications from the United Kingdom. Winston explained that only a few official reports from the Chinese government aside from the maritime customs sector had appeared at that point, and that the government of the ROC was "too poor, perhaps still too secretive, to make regular and full publication of statistics."

During the Cold War the ROC generally maintained an anti-communist stance, however during the late 1960s and early 1970s the government of Chiang Kai-shek undertook secret negotiations with Moscow. Even going so far as having the foreign minister suggest that the ROC would have their own "Warsaw talk" with the Soviets. Throughout the Cold War Wang Sheng was a driving force in diplomacy between the ROC and the anti-communist world.

After retreating there in 1949 Chiang Kai-shek never again left Taiwan, this required leaders who wanted to meet with Chiang to travel to Taiwan. The first head of state during the KMT era to make a state visit abroad was Yen Chia-kan in 1977 when he visited Saudi Arabia.

In September 2016, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs planned to disband fewer than ten of its embassies to allocate for a "New Southbound Policy".

Since 1990, the ROC has witnessed a net of 16 countries switch recognition to the PRC.

Bilateral relations

Africa

Liberia recognised the ROC in 1989, and switched back to the PRC in October 2003.

After Burkina Faso cut relations with Taiwan in 2018, Eswatini remained Taiwan's sole ally in Africa. Taiwan has an embassy in Mbabane, Eswatini. On 7 June 2016, the National Police Agency and Royal Eswatini Police Service signed a joint, cross-border, crime fighting pact, which included exchanges, probes, personnel visits, professional skills enhancement, law enforcement and technical assistance. King Mswati III has visited Taiwan seventeen times as of June 2018, and has promised to continue recognising Taiwan instead of the PRC. As of June 2018, the Taiwanese Ambassador is Thomas Chen (陳經銓).

The Gambia recognised the ROC from 1968 until 1974, and then again from 1995 until 14 November 2013, when President Yahya Jammeh's office announced it had cut diplomatic ties with immediate effect. During this era Taiwan gave hundreds of millions of dollars in aid and loans to The Gambia, much of which was diverted by President Yahya Jammeh and those close to him. The PRC recognised The Gambia on 17 March 2016. Upon Gambian recognition the PRC immediately began to furnish them with aid. The repeated switch off between PRC and ROC recognition is seen as an example of checkbook diplomacy.

Asia

Bangladesh has had limited bilateral exchanges with the ROC since it declared independence in 1971. Bangladesh is the ROC's second largest South Asian trading partner in spite of a global slump. Bangladesh mainly exports garments, knitwear, jutes, leathers and handicrafts to the ROC and imports an assortment of textiles, machines, electronics, steels, and plastic.

The Double Tenth Agreement signed on 10 October 1945 is the only legal document between the two parties. The following Political Consultative Conference (Republic of China), was engulfed by Cold War history and the American foreign policy of containment in East Asia after the Korean War. Before the Korean War broke out, the US was preparing for a coup d'état in mid-1950 to replace Chiang Kai-shek with Hu Shih and Sun Li-jen and neutralize the ROC's legal status under UN Trusteeship to block any legal claim of the PRC on Taiwan, as proposed by United States Department of State official Dean Rusk. The Formosa Resolution of 1955 was passed unanimously by the United States Congress. Resolving the cross-strait relationship required both sides to rethink definitions of basic concepts such as sovereignty, "one China" and unification.

The two polities of accession resulted in the PRC's Campaign to Suppress Counterrevolutionaries, the lifting of its martial law on PRC territory, and more recently the enactment of the PRC's Anti-Secession Law towards the ROC. The two sides have no cross-strait military confidence-building measures (CBM) "to improve military-to-military relations in ways that reduce fears of attack and the potential for military miscalculation". Nuclear tensions have risen since the PRC promulgated the Anti-Secession Law.

The government position that both Taiwan and mainland China are parts of the same state is not universally accepted among the people of Taiwan. In particular, the pro-independence Pan-Green Coalition considers Taiwan and China to be different countries. By contrast, the pro-unification Pan-Blue Coalition take the view that both Taiwan and mainland China are parts of the ROC. Former president Lee Tung-hui described these relations as "Special state-to-state relations". The Chen administrations described Taiwan and China by saying "...with Taiwan and China on each side of the Taiwan Strait, each side is a country.". Former President Ma Ying-jeou returned to the government position of the early 1990s, calling relations with Beijing special relations between two areas within one state. That state, according to Taiwan is the ROC, and due to constitutional reasons, neither Taipei nor Beijing recognises each other as a legitimate government.

Europe

In 2020, Belgium's Chamber of Representatives passed a resolution of support for Taiwan. In 2021, the Flemish Parliament did the same passing a resolution in support of Taiwan with 117 votes in favor, no votes in opposition, and four abstentions. Flemish wind power companies Jan De Nul and DEME are involved in offshore wind farm development in Taiwan.

Relations between Czechia and Taiwan are significant. Jaroslav Kubera, President of the Senate of the Czech Republic, planned a visit to Taipei prior to his death, prompting threats of retaliation from China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Kubera's successor, Miloš Vystrčil, however, led a delegation to Taiwan that arrived in Taipei on August 31, 2020.

On 9 January 1950, Denmark became one of the first European countries to recognize the PRC. While Denmark has continued to maintain unofficial relations with the ROC ever since, they have primarily been related to trade, culture, science and economic affairs.

Estonia and Taiwan maintain informal relations, with cultural and economic exchanges despite lacking formal diplomatic ties. Taiwan is represented in Estonia through the Taipei Mission in Latvia. In recent years, Estonia has shown increasing support for Taiwan, notably through reciprocal diplomatic delegations and openness towards a possible Taiwanese representative office in Tallinn. Both nations have cooperated in areas like trade and crisis management, with notable contributions such as Taiwan's donations to Estonia during the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukrainian refugee crisis.

In January 2021 the German government appealed to the Taiwanese government to help persuade Taiwanese semiconductor companies to ramp up production as a global semiconductor shortage was hampering the German economy's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. A lack of semiconductors had caused vehicle production lines to be idled leading German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier to personally reach out to Taiwan's economics affairs minister Wang Mei-hua in an attempt to get Taiwanese semiconductor companies to increase their manufacturing capacity.

Diplomatic relations between the Holy See (Vatican City) and the Republic of China were established on 23 October 1942 and, with the presentation by Archbishop Antonio Riberi of his letter of credence to the President in 1946, the Holy See's Apostolic Delegation in China gained diplomatic status.

North America

Dominica established ties with Taiwan on 10 May 1983. In September 2001, Taiwanese Premier Chang Chun-hsiung visited Dominica to meet with Prime Minister Pierre Charles. On 23 March 2004, shortly after Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit took office, Dominica severed ties with Taiwan in exchange for ties with the People's Republic of China.

On 1 May 2018, the Dominican Republic switched. The government initially gave no reason, although it later said in the switchover ceremony that Taiwan was an inalienable part of China and that the switchover was to comply to the one-China policy. It was motivated by loans and investments worth US$3.1 billion. "History and socioeconomic reality" were cited as reasons for the switchover. Flavio Darío Espinal, a government executive, said that "In the following months and years, enormous opportunities for cooperation will gradually open up, not only in the commercial area, but also in the financial, technological, tourist, educational or energy fields. To take just one example, more than 135 million Chinese tourists visit international destinations annually. The establishment of these diplomatic relations will allow part of that tourism to flow into our country in the near future. And that is just one of the things that will improve."

On 20 August 2018, El Salvador broke ties with Taiwan and established them with the PRC. El Salvador now only recognizes the PRC. Just like Panama and the Dominican Republic, the event was broadcast nationwide on radio and television. Hours before the announcement, Taiwan (ROC) announced that it had broken ties with El Salvador, citing the imminent establishment of diplomatic and commercial ties with the PRC (China). El Salvador's president said that his government had decided to make the switchover due to UN Resolution 2758. The Taiwanese government said that the switchover was not influenced by the Chinese government, but rather, the switchover was done in response to Taiwan refusing to fund the construction of Puerto La Unión and El Salvador's 2019 Salvadoran presidential election.

On 18 March 2014, Guatemala's former president Alfonso Portillo pled guilty in the Federal District Court in Manhattan to a charge that he accepted bribes in exchange for recognising the ROC. President Pérez Molina said that Guatemala's relations with the ROC were and are strong and that the Portillo confession would not affect diplomatic relations between the two nations. Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined comment.

Oceania

The ROC maintains diplomatic relations with three countries in Oceania: the Marshall Islands, Palau, and Tuvalu. The PRC has relations with 13 others (including Australia, the Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu). The Pacific is an area of intense and continuous diplomatic competition between Beijing and Taipei, with several countries (Kiribati, Nauru, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu) having switched diplomatic support from one to the other at least once. Both the PRC and the ROC provide development aid to their respective allies. In exchange, ROC's allies support its membership bid in the United Nations. The ROC is one of Tuvalu's most important economic partners.

In September 2006, the first regional summit of Taiwan's Pacific Island allies took place, hosted by Palau in Koror City. The meeting brought together President Chen and delegates from the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu, Nauru, Palau, Solomon Islands and Kiribati. It was to become a regular event, known as the Taiwan–Pacific Allies Summit. A second regional meeting was hosted by the Marshall Islands in October, and President Chen attended. This resulted in the Majuro Declaration, in which Taiwan's six Pacific allies re-stated their recognition of the ROC's sovereignty, and promised to support the ROC's attempts to join the United Nations.

In June 2007, the ROC donated an aid package of €700,000, distributed among eight Pacific regional organisations.

In January 2008, following the victory of the Kuomintang in the ROC's elections, Kuomintang MP Yang Li-huan stated that under the new government Taiwan's interest in the Pacific could decrease. Three days later, however, it was confirmed that ROC Vice-president Annette Lu would lead a diplomatic visit to the Marshall Islands, Nauru and Solomon Islands.

In March 2008, President-elect Ma was reported as saying that his government would put an end to Taiwanese "cheque-book diplomacy" in the Pacific (or more specifically, similar to the condition of cestui que use diplomacy). In May of that same year, Ma called for what he referred to as a "cease-fire" in the competition between the ROC and the PRC for diplomatic allies. This followed a scandal due to allegations that Taiwan's Foreign Minister James Huang had attempted to buy Papua New Guinea's diplomatic allegiance. Papua New Guinea's foreign minister Sam Abal subsequently confirmed that his country had no intention of recognising the ROC.

South America

Paraguay recognizes Taiwan. Paraguayan leader General Alfredo Stroessner was a partner of Generalissimo Chiang. Many Paraguayan officers trained in Fu Hsing Kang College in the ROC.

Stroessner's 1989 ousting and his successor Andrés Rodríguez's reinventing himself as a democratically elected president, were immediately followed by invitations from Beijing to switch diplomatic recognition. However, the Taiwanese ambassador, Wang Sheng, and his diplomats were able to convince the Paraguayans that continuing the relationship with the ROC, and thus keeping the ROC's development assistance and access to the ROC's markets, would be more advantageous for Paraguay. Recognition of Taiwan was a matter of debate in the 2023 Paraguayan general election, with bilateral relations maintained after the results.

In 2007, the Venezuelan government refused to renew visas for five members of the ROC commercial representation in Caracas.

Relations with Venezuela have worsened because of the increasing partnership between the government of Hugo Chávez and the People's Republic of China, which has led to a more overt rejection of the Taiwan's legitimacy by Venezuela. During the 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis, Taiwan has been supportive of Juan Guaidó and the opposition-led National Assembly.

Multilateral relations

Arab world

Egypt maintained relations until 1956, when Gamal Abdel Nasser cut off relations and recognised the PRC. Ma Bufang, who was then living in Egypt, was ordered to move to Saudi Arabia, and became the ROC ambassador to Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia ended its diplomatic relations with the ROC in 1990. Ambassador Wang Shi-ming was a Chinese Muslim, and the ROC ambassador to Kuwait. The ROC also maintained relations with Libya.

European Union

The European Union has emphasized human rights in its relations with Taiwan. It is the largest source of foreign direct investment to Taiwan. The European Union has unofficial relations with Taiwan through the European Economic and Trade Office, which was opened on 10 March 2003. Taipei is one of the major trading partners via the European Free Trade Association, and a trading partner with the Eurozone. Taiwanese passport holders with a listed identity card number do not require a Schengen visa to visit the Schengen Area; reciprocally, the ROC has also eliminated visa requirements for citizens of all EU countries. EU-Taiwan relations were debated in the European Parliament. Sixteen EU member states have established offices in Taipei, along with some functional offices. Taipei Representative Office in the EU and Belgium is the unofficial diplomatic representation of Taiwan in the EU. Chinese Taipei is an observer in the OECD, which is headquartered in Paris, France. ROC's Civil Service Protection and Training Commission (CSPTC) and the Belgian Training Institute of the Federal Administration (TIFA) signed Memorandum of Understanding on 7 November 2014 for workshop attendance of public servants that highlighted leadership, innovation and conflict management, as well as global competitiveness strategies in Brussels. The EU rejects granting Mainland China market economy status.

Overseas representation in Taiwan

Embassies

Eswatini

Holy See (Vatican City)

Belize

Guatemala

Haiti

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Saint Lucia

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Marshall Islands

Palau

Tuvalu

Paraguay

Offices

Nigeria

Somaliland

South Africa

Bahrain

Brunei

India

Indonesia

Israel

Japan

Jordan

Korea, Republic of (South Korea)

Kuwait

Malaysia

Mongolia

Oman

Philippines

Saudi Arabia

Singapore

Thailand

Türkiye

United Arab Emirates

Vietnam

Austria

Belgium

Czechia

Denmark

Finland

France

Germany

Hungary

Italy

Latvia

Lithuania

Multilateral organization in Taiwan

European Union Taiwan Office – European Economic and Trade Office

Free trade agreements

Guatemala – July 2005

Paraguay – February 2018

Eswatini – June 2018

International agreements

ROC is a party to major international treaties, including:

Article 33 of United Nations Charter.

Treaty of Commerce and Navigation with United States of America.

Metre Convention (associate as "Chinese Taipei")

Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement with PRC (signed between Straits Exchange Foundation and Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits – for ROC and PRC respectively and included the topic of direct flights, and with the improving relations between mainland China and Taiwan, Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Hong Kong and Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Macau was officially launched in Hong Kong and Macau, also Hong Kong Economic, Trade and Cultural Office and Macau Economic and Cultural Office was opened in Taiwan)

Territorial disputes

The ROC claims islands in the South China Sea on the same basis as its claim to historical Chinese territory retaining the borders dated prior to the establishment of the PRC including Tibet and Outer Mongolia. Unlike its claims on the Asian mainland, however, the ROC actively pursues and defends some of its claims to these islands. These include all of the Spratly Islands, the Paracel Islands, Macclesfield Bank and Scarborough Shoal. These islands are administered by a number of governments around the South China Sea. The ROC also claims the Senkaku Islands, which are administered by Japan. Because ASEAN and the People's Republic of China did not invite the Republic of China to participate in the "Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea", the Republic of China did not recognize it.

The PRC, in turn, asserts itself as the sole legitimate government of China, and claims all territories administered by the ROC.

Specialized diplomacy

Culinary diplomacy

Taiwan emphasizes its night markets and the high rate of vegan eateries among other aspects of its culinary culture in an effort to promote the nation through culinary diplomacy. Taiwan has used its culinary programs to bolster its tourism sector and to conduct diplomacy in countries with which it has limited official ties.

In 2010, Taiwan launched a £20m culinary diplomacy campaign.

Freedom pineapples (Chinese: 自由鳳梨; pinyin: Zìyóu fènglí) was a political and social response in 2021 to a Chinese ban on the import of pineapples from Taiwan. It encouraged domestic and international consumption to replace the loss of the mainland Chinese market, which had formerly imported 97% of all Taiwanese pineapple exports.

In 2025 after China cut off imports of Japanese seafood in response to comments from Japan's PM in support of Taiwan Lai Ching-te, the Taiwanese President, publicized his consumption of Japanese seafood. This choice was seen as diplomatically significant.

Medical diplomacy

Taiwan's medical diplomacy began in 1961 with a team of medical professionals sent to Libya. In 2018 Taiwan set up a 2 million dollar healthcare fund for its Pacific island nation allies. Taiwan officially refers to most of its medical diplomacy as public health diplomacy.

Medical diplomacy has formed a key part of Taiwan's outreach to regional countries, especially in Southeast Asia. It is one of the five key components of the New Southbound Policy. Unlike medical diplomacy under previous programs under the NSP medical diplomacy is not focused on providing direct medical care or basic public health programs but on providing high-level professional skill transfers.

Local media has referred to Taiwan's medical diplomacy related to the COVID-19 pandemic as "epidemic prevention diplomacy". In March 2020 Australia and Taiwan agreed to exchange 1 million liters of Australian alcohol to be used in making hand sanitizer for 3 metric tons of Taiwanese nonwoven fabric to be used in making facial masks.

Drone diplomacy

In 2025 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs launched a drone diplomacy program with the intent of supplying uncrewed vehicles to diplomatic allies, regional partners, and those facing Russian aggression especially in Europe. The effort would be facilitated in partnership with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Taiwanese domestic industry.

Transport and communications

Air links

The dispute over Taiwan's status affects the island's air links with the outside world, particularly Europe, North America and Australia.

For many years, Mandarin Airlines, a subsidiary of Taiwan's national airline, China Airlines (CAL), served many international destinations that CAL did not because of political sensitivities. However, in 1995 CAL dropped the national colours from its livery, and now flies to international destinations under its own name. Many countries' national airlines similarly set up special subsidiaries, known as "shadow airlines", to operate services to Taipei, with a different name, and livery omitting national symbols: British Asia Airways, a British Airways subsidiary operating to London; KLM Asia, a KLM subsidiary operating to Amsterdam; Swissair Asia, a Swissair subsidiary operating to Zürich; Air France Asie, an Air France subsidiary operating to Paris; Japan Asia Airways, a Japan Air Lines subsidiary operating to Tokyo; and Australia Asia Airlines, a Qantas subsidiary operating to Sydney. Of these subsidiaries, KLM Asia is the only one that's still flying as of 2026, as the others ceased operations when their parent companies were privatized (or went bankrupt, in Swissair's case). Other countries' flag carriers, such as Germany's Lufthansa, operated flights to Taipei using an existing subsidiary (in Lufthansa's case, Condor).

Before the completion of the second runway at New Tokyo International Airport (now Narita International Airport) in Chiba, Japan, airlines from Taiwan were required to utilize Haneda International Airport for their Tokyo routes in order not to offend the airlines from the PRC that flew to Narita. All Nippon Airways, however, used an existing subsidiary, Air Nippon. With the implementation of a new Japan-Taiwan air agreement, JAL and ANA took over flight operations between Japan and Taiwan in April 2008.

Beginning July 2008, charter flights between mainland China and Taiwan, which were traditionally only allowed on special holidays such as Chinese New Year, were significantly expanded.

China has begun compelling foreign airlines with landing privileges in the mainland to identify Taiwanese destinations as if they were part of the mainland government, e.g. T'aipei CN instead of T'aipei TW.

Telecommunications

International dialling codes were assigned by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), an agency of the United Nations, to its member states and their dependencies in the 1960s. Despite the Republic of China on Taiwan still being a member of the UN, and hence the ITU, other member states declared that "the only representatives of the people of China are the delegates to the ITU and its permanent organs appointed by the Central Government of the People's Republic of China". This led to the People's Republic of China being assigned the country code 86. Consequently, in the early 1970s, Taiwan had to be unofficially assigned a separate code, 886, although there was pressure from China to change this to 866. This had to be listed as "reserved", but in 2006, the code was formally allocated to "Taiwan, China".

Codes in the +86 6 number range have since been allocated to cities in mainland China; for example, the area code for Shanwei is 0660. Consequently, calls from mainland China to Taiwan require the international access code and country code 00886.