Playing the Taiwan Card

Forging better ties with Taiwan will help India in countering China hegemony and restoring regional balance

India mulling a trade deal with Taiwan marks a paradigm shift in international diplomacy in the wake of China’s growing belligerence and territorial hegemony in the region. It makes great sense for India to align with Taiwan economically as both countries share common values of democracy and openness. China’s insistence that Taiwan should not be regarded as a country is now beginning to backfire and it can no longer continue dictating the relationships in the region. A full-fledged trade deal with Taipei would help India’s goal of seeking greater investments in technology and electronics. Taiwan and India do not have formal diplomatic ties, but their citizens have bonded over a shared feeling of being targets of Chinese aggression and censorship. The heavy-handed move by the Chinese Embassy in Delhi, which sent a letter to Indian outlets demanding that they not refer to Taiwan as a country, led to outrage in both India and Taiwan. Any formal talks with India would amount to a big win for Taiwan, which has struggled to begin trade negotiations with most major economies because of Beijing’s strong-arm tactics. India doesn’t formally recognise Taiwan but the two governments maintain unofficial diplomatic missions. India and Taiwan signed an updated bilateral investment agreement in 2018 in a bid to further expand economic ties. Trade between them grew 18% to $7.2 billion in 2019. While New Delhi does not have formal diplomatic ties with Taipei, it has also not publicly endorsed a “one China policy”.

Taiwan has sought trade talks with India for several years, but the successive governments have been reluctant to move ahead because it would involve a messy fight with China once any pact is registered at the World Trade Organization. Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s administration has found massive support in India in recent weeks after China issued a statement telling Indian media outlets not to refer to Taiwan as a country when reporting on its Oct 10 National Day celebrations. Twitter users in India lambasted China and its ambassador to New Delhi, Sun Weidong, while heaping praise on Taiwan and making the hashtag #TaiwanNationalDay go viral. There is growing public anger against China in the wake of deadly border clashes along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The Centre has since banned dozens of Chinese apps while also reaching out to Japan, Australia and the United States for creating alternative supply chains to diversify away from China in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. “Taiwan Card” is emerging as a strategic bargaining chip for India in countering Chinese hegemony and restoring regional balance. As a leading power in the field of science and technology and semiconductor manufacturing, Taiwan is considered a reliable substitute to China.

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