Looking forward to continuing people to people exchanges with Taiwan: India

“India has strong and growing people to people ties; culture, education, trade and investment links with Taiwan. The Government of India facilitates these exchanges and looks forward to continuing them for shared prosperity and development,” he said.

Lai had won Taiwan’s presidential election last Saturday, despite China’s warnings not to vote for him.

Speaking to reporters after registering the victory, Lai had said: “I have an important responsibility to maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.” He added that he is determined to safeguard Taiwan from “threats and intimidation from China.”

Beijing considers Lai as a “separatist” for his views on Taiwan’s sovereignty and said he would bring “severe danger” to cross-strait relations, according to a report by ‘The Washington Post’.

The roots of tensions between Lai and China date back to 2017, when he described himself as a “pragmatic worker for Taiwan independence”. This sparked a row as Taiwan has neither formally declared independence from China nor united with it.

In recent years, Lai has distanced himself from his advocacy for formal independence. During his campaign, Lai promised to maintain the status quo and said he was committed to preserving peace and boosting the island’s defences. He also said he would focus on securing Taiwan’s global status by strengthening ties with the United States and other friendly democracies.

While India does not have formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan yet as it adheres to the ‘One-China’ policy, Taiwan has established Taipei Economic and Cultural Centres in India to conduct business here. In July last year, Taiwan had announced the opening of a new business office in Mumbai — its third in India, after Delhi and Chennai.

In fact, in the absence of an embassy, these offices represent Taiwan’s interests in India. On its people to people ties with India, Taiwan’s Foreign ministry had recently commented, “In recent years, cooperation between the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the Republic of India has witnessed significant progress in numerous domains, including economics and trade, science and technology, critical supply chains, culture, education, and traditional medicine”.