Taiwanese Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) reportedly visited Paris this autumn, and National Security Council advisor Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) visited NATO headquarters in Belgium, according to defense intelligence and geopolitical analysis website Intelligence Online.
Intelligence Online said that Lin met in Paris with Taiwanese diplomats based in Africa. Taiwan has embassies or representative offices in five African countries: Eswatini, South Africa, Somaliland, Nigeria and Ivory Coast. It is normal for the foreign minister to convene such a meeting — Liberty Times reported that during Lin’s recent visit to Rome, he met with all the Taiwanese representatives stationed in Europe
Hsu reportedly met with European Commission officials as well as visiting NATO headquarters “with a large delegation.” According to Intelligence Online, the stop was part of a larger tour that included Paris, Berlin, London, and Warsaw, intended to deepen “partnerships in the areas of SCADS (Semiconductors, AI, Defense, and Surveillance).”
Citing “sources,” Intelligence Online said Lin and Hsu were able to gain unprecedented access to high-ranking individuals and institutions.
Lin made two separate trips to Europe this autumn, one from September 11 to September 20, when he visited Czechia, the Netherlands, Italy and Austria, and one from September 27 to October 3, when he visited Poland.
Domino Theory broke the news that Lin had visited the Netherlands, which had previously been unreported. That trip was uncovered in part because there were missing days in Lin’s itinerary. However, the identified missing days, September 14 through 16, did not align perfectly with Lin’s time in the Netherlands, which was September 13 through 15. If Lin did visit Paris, it’s possible then that he was there on September 16.
However, there is another option. Taiwan’s foreign ministry announced an itinerary for Lin in Poland that included appointments on September 28, 29 and 30. But Taiwanese media UDN reported that Lin returned to Taiwan on October 3, and stated that he had visited seven countries across the two trips (France would be the seventh, if the Vatican City is counted). So Lin’s Paris trip could have taken place on October 1 or 2.
Intelligence Online did not give dates for either visit, but stated that Lin’s speech at the Warsaw Security Forum on September 29 came after Hsu’s Brussels presentation.
Taiwan’s culture minister, Li Yuan (李遠), visited France from September 7 to September 10 attending a “Taiwan-France Cultural Award” ceremony, before he went to Czechia and attended the opening of a museum exhibition with Lin and other Taiwanese officials.
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