China’s response came in to reports that India and Taiwan were considering going forward with talks on a trade deal. China claimed the ‘One-China principle’ is a universal consensus of the international community, including India. China also objected to the recent campaign (posters and social media) in India wishing Taiwan “Happy National Day” (October 10) and referring to it as a “country” or a “nation”. China is also opposing inclusion of Australia in the upcoming Malabar naval exercise with India, Japan and the United States.
India-Taiwan
India and Taiwan do not maintain any formal diplomatic relations. The areas of cooperation between the two have been limited due to negligible political relations. The bilateral trade turnover has grown manifold from just $934 million to $5.91 billion from 1995 to 2014. In the field of science and technology, there are more than thirty ongoing government-funded joint research projects.
The Taiwan-based Foxconn, one of the largest hardware manufacturers in the world, announced an investment of $5 billion in India In August 2015. India and Taiwan in 2018 signed a bilateral investment agreement. India-Taiwan trade ties have been expanded and Taiwanese firms are prominent investors in India. Taiwan has for long been a world leader in high-tech hardware manufacturing, and can contribute much to the “Make in India”, “Digital India” and “Smart Cities” campaigns. Taiwan’s agro-technology and food processing technology can also be very beneficial for India’s agriculture sector.
Way ahead
China regards Taiwan as a breakaway province which it has vowed to retake, by force if necessary. But Taiwan’s leaders say it is clearly much more than a province, arguing that it is a sovereign state. It has its own constitution, democratically-elected leaders, and about 300,000 active troops in its armed forces.
With the recent appointment of a senior diplomat to serve as the new envoy to Taiwan, India has signalled a shift in its One-China policy (although not officially abandoned) a clear indication of taking forward the diplomatic relationship with Taiwan.
