*

Wary of China, Europe traditionally less willing to sell

Taiwan

weapons

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Last major European weapons sales to Taiwan were three

decades

ago

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Taiwan foreign minister makes rare Europe visit this month

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Taiwan faces stepped up military pressure from China

By Ben Blanchard

TAIPEI, Sept 22 (Reuters) - In an arms market long

dominated by the United States, Europe raised its profile at

Taiwan's largest defence show last week as countries there take

tentative steps to help the island deal with an increasingly

aggressive China.

Democratically governed Taiwan has traditionally relied on

the United States for most of its arms purchases, with no major

orders from Europe for three decades due to the fear of

incurring the wrath of Beijing, which views the island as its

own territory. Taiwan rejects China's sovereignty claims and

says only the island's people can decide their future.

While many countries, especially in Europe, are nervous

about any defence cooperation with Taiwan due to fears of

Chinese retaliation, Taipei has found an increasingly

sympathetic ear in parts of central and eastern Europe,

especially since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

Taiwan Defence Minister Wellington Koo visited the Czech

pavilion at last week's Taipei Aerospace and Defence Technology

Exhibition, where he was greeted by Pavel Fischer, chairman of

the Czech Senate's Foreign Affairs, Defence and Security

Committee.

"Today in Taiwan we have many partners to work with,"

Fischer told Reuters. "We know the complexity of Taiwan in the

international arena, because of the active measures by the

Communist Party of China."

The German Trade Office Taipei took part in the exhibition

for the first time, saying it was "presenting Germany's

innovative achievements and industrial strength in the fields of

aerospace and security".

Airbus, also debuting at the show, had a large

Flexrotor tactical vertical take-off and landing drone on

display, designed for intelligence, surveillance and

reconnaissance missions of up to 14 hours. The model had a

sticker that read: "I heart Taiwan".

An Airbus spokesperson said its stand was promoting products

and services beyond commercial aircraft.

"These include helicopter applications for supporting search

and rescue missions, emergency services and law enforcement, as

well as secure communications services," the spokesperson said.

In a further sign of Europe being less nervous about

interactions with Taipei, Taiwan's Foreign Minister Lin

Chia-lung this month visited Prague, Rome and Vienna. Chinese

Foreign Minister Wang Yi was in Austria just a week prior to

Lin.

U.S. companies remained a major presence at the show,

including Lockheed Martin ( LMT ), which makes the F-16 fighter,

the mainstay of Taiwan's air force. In contrast, Europe has not

provided Taipei with big-ticket items for some three decades.

When the Netherlands sold Taiwan two submarines in the

1980s, China was so infuriated that the Dutch government

subsequently promised not to allow any more arms sales to

Taiwan.

In 1991, France sold Taiwan six frigates, and 60 Mirage jets

the next year. It has not sold Taipei any other major weapons

systems since.

Still, Britain is involved in helping Taiwan build its

first

indigenous

submarines

.

"There is much less caution now. The world has changed

because of Ukraine," said one executive at a Taiwanese

military-use drone manufacturer that works with European

partners, asking not to be identified for security reasons.