ABSTRACT
Parallel to the economic rise of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) since the late 1980s, Taiwan has been keen to strengthen international economic cooperation through, for example, its 2011 “Golden Decade National Vision.” By focusing on the case of the Taiwan-European Union (EU) economic relationship, this chapter aims to analyze the degree to which this bilateral relationship increases Taiwan’s assertiveness vis-à-vis its immediate neighbours (China). Although data show that the EU and Taiwanese economies are slightly complementary, leading thereby to potential mutual economic benefits, the analysis highlights that an economic agreement with the EU is only but secondary from the viewpoint of Taiwan’s economic integration strategy.
