EU–Taiwan Relations: What Can Canada Learn?
On March 7, 2025, the Research Chair in Taiwan Studies and the Centre for International Policy Studies at the University of Ottawa jointly hosted a public lecture by Dr. Zsuzsa Anna Ferenczy, an expert on EU foreign policy and Taiwan. Dr. Ferenczy is an Affiliated Scholar in the Department of Political Science at Vrije Universiteit Brussel and an Assistant Professor at National Dong Hwa University in Hualien, Taiwan. She is also a former political advisor at the European Parliament (2008–2020), and she shared insights from her book Partners in Peace: Why Europe and Taiwan Matter to Each Other. Her focus was on the growing importance of relations between the EU and Taiwan in light of the alignment of China and Russia, and regional Indo–Pacific dynamics.
The public lecture was moderated by Professor André Laliberté, co-director of the Research Chair in Taiwan Studies, and it drew an engaged audience of students, faculty, and policy professionals. Dr. Ferenczy pointed out that Europe is increasingly recognizing Taiwan on its own merits, separate from U.S.–China rivalry, and she talked about shared values, economic interdependence, and the strategic challenges posed by Beijing’s assertiveness. Of particular relevance to Canadian policymakers were her reflections on its naval presence in the Taiwan Strait, differences between the EU’s One China Policy and China’s One China Principle, and the potential for parliamentary diplomacy to support Taiwan without provoking diplomatic fallout.
Her lecture was followed by a round of questions on the issue of Taiwan’s relations with Canada, and the possibility of various kinds of mutual cooperation between Taiwan, Canada, and the EU, in a context of diminished engagement with the United States.
During her visit to the University of Ottawa, Dr. Ferenczy met with the directors of the Research Chair in Taiwan Studies and discussed potential future collaboration. She then continued her Canadian tour by giving a presentation at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy at the University of Toronto on March 10. It was titled: EU–Taiwan Relations: What Lies Ahead and covered similar content for the other leading Taiwan Studies program in Canada.
