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Taiwan
ChinaPolitics

As Israel’s foreign ties falter amid war in Gaza, Taiwan sees chance to cosy up

  • Taipei views conflict in Middle East as opportunity to learn from Israel’s defence strategy and foster friendly relations
  • While Beijing is still important economically, Israel is looking for partners in Asia that offer ‘less ideological criticism’, analyst says

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Cooling relations between Israel and mainland China have provided more space for Israel and Taiwan to cooperate. Photo: AFP
Jordyn Haime
Since Israel launched its war against Hamas in Gaza last October, many of its international relationships have fallen into decline. Even the United States’ unconditional support of Israel is beginning to show its cracks.
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But Taiwan, under military pressure from Beijing and eager for international partners, has seen the war as an opportunity to learn from Israel’s defence strategies and advance bilateral ties, despite a lack of formal diplomatic relations.

Taiwan was one of the first governments to condemn Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel, which killed 1,139 people, as terrorism. Soon thereafter, Taiwan’s defence ministry established a committee to study possible lessons the island could learn from Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel.

According to Abby Lee, Taiwan’s representative in Israel, Taiwan has provided humanitarian relief and help to non-governmental organisations on the ground in Israel since the beginning of the war. This has included offering food and clothes to evacuees and psychological help to those who were impacted by the October 7 attack.

Lee said that in the wake of the Hamas attack, Taiwan has shown it is a “reliable partner” to Israel.

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“This reminds people once again it is not always to see relations with Taiwan from the perspective of China. That is not good for Israel’s national interests either,” Lee said.

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