This month has in many ways seen a breakthrough in Taiwan’s foreign relations. August began with a historic visit from US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Speaker Pelosi was the highest-ranking US official to visit Taiwan since then Speaker Newt Gingrich visited the country in 1997. Now China’s war games surrounding Taiwan in response to Pelosi’s visit seems to have caused a rush in foreign leaders to make their way to Taipei to show their support.
When Arizona Governor Doug Ducey arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday, his delegation became the tenth one to visit the country in August, including five from the United States alone. Ducey follows trips by Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb, and US Senators Ed Markey and Marsha Blackburn. While Taiwan has seen a steady flow of visits from foreign leaders, especially since the beginning of 2021, this is a spectacularly high number.
So what’s behind his recent change? Leaders in countries close to Taiwan have sensed that following China’s aggressive military exercises around the country, it was important to show their support. Visiting Taiwan sends the message that a Chinese invasion or other radical change to the status quo in the Taiwan Strait will mean serious consequences for Beijing.
But questions remain over what these trips achieve. They rarely result in direct negotiations over major economic or political issues. But they do open up new dialogues between Taiwanese and foreign leaders, and normalize Taiwan’s existence on the global stage. For example, after US Senators Bob Menendez and Linsey Graham visited Taiwan in April, they introduced the Taiwan Policy Act in June to strengthen relations with the country. That means creating good feelings between Taiwan and other countries seems to be paying off.