For many Europeans, China’s insistence on eventually taking control of Taiwan may appear to be a distant territorial dispute with little direct impact on Europe or its borders. The widespread international recognition of the People’s Republic of China, combined with the “One China” policy adopted by most countries, often creates the impression that Taiwan is simply an internal Chinese matter.
However, Taiwan has developed a distinct political identity and democratic system separate from mainland China. The island’s population has its own distinct cultural heritage, and over the past decades, a growing number of Taiwanese increasingly identify politically and culturally as Taiwanese rather than Chinese. Taiwan’s current ruling party, the Democratic Progressive Party, supports a stronger Taiwanese identity and is against closer political integration with Beijing. Meanwhile, the opposition Kuomintang traditionally favours closer relations with China and historically emerged from the Chinese nationalist movement that retreated to Taiwan after the Chinese Civil War.
Taiwan’s sovereignty is at risk, but not only that. China has consistently executed ethnic-cleansing and forced assimilation policies in regions inhabited by non-Han ethnic groups. The Uyghurs in Xinjiang, China, have been subjected to persistent repression and widespread ethnic-cleansing by the Chinese state as Beijing forcefully integrates the local population into its political and cultural system. China also encouraged large-scale migration of ethnic Han Chinese into minority regions following these policies, a process also associated with Tibet. In addition, China’s actions in Hong Kong have reinforced concerns that Beijing will not fully respect treaties or agreements granting political autonomy to its regions.
China’s unrestrained and increasingly aggressive imperialism is not restricted to its own historical territories; it extends far beyond them and has now reached the Philippines. Yet even this is not enough. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio put it bluntly when he said that China wants to project power globally in the same way the United States projects power. China ultimately wants to become the leading superpower shaping and determining the international rules-based order.
Taiwan is key to China’s superpower ambitions. For decades, China’s claims over Taiwan largely fell on deaf ears because the US Navy was powerful enough to deter any potential Chinese incursion. Today, however, the situation has changed significantly. China has substantially expanded its naval and air power to the point where it is now capable of consistently harassing Taiwan without major repercussions.
The fact that no one appears capable of stopping China from expanding its military presence and asserting control over disputed territories and sovereign nations is increasingly seen as a sign that Beijing may eventually be able to unilaterally redraw borders, determine the future of other peoples, and shape the global order.
Europe’s standing in the global order as a superpower is becoming an urgent necessity. China is harnessing its growing power to dominate its way to “Middle Kingdom” status. Europe can either watch China’s growing dominance or push itself to become strong enough to deter Chinese imperialism. The United States is supposed to be deterring China, even according to its own national strategic policy. However, under President Donald Trump, that deterrence does not appear to be fully effective, and China remains firmly determined to eventually take control of Taiwan.
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