Israeli delegation’s Taiwan visit to boost ties draws sharp rebuke from China

A delegation of Israeli lawmakers visited Taiwan, where they met with President Lai Ching-te as part of efforts to strengthen ties in technology, trade, security, resilience and academic cooperation, drawing sharp criticism from China on Wednesday.

The delegation included Knesset members Mickey Levy, Boaz Toporovsky and Ron Katz from the Yesh Atid party and Yonatan Mishraki from the Shas party. Toporovsky is chair of the Israel-Taiwan parliamentary friendship group. In addition to meeting with President Lai, the lawmakers held talks with senior Taiwanese officials.

“Delighted to meet the delegation led by former Speaker MK Mickey Levy and Toporovsky and [to] discuss Taiwan-Israel cooperation in AI, societal resilience & more. Grateful for the Knesset’s support as we work to advance industrial development & deepen our partnership,” Lai wrote on 𝕏.

Levy said the purpose of the visit was “to demonstrate Israel’s close ties with Taiwan, noting that Taiwan was among the first countries to express support for Israel following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas.” He also expressed the hope of further advancing bilateral cooperation in economic, security and technology.

Since the Hamas Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel, Taiwan has been one of Israel's staunchest supporters, not only in words but also by launching scholarships for Israeli students impacted by war, welcoming select young Israeli adults aged 18 to 30 to live and work in Taiwan for up to a year, and donating funds to IDF soldiers and Israeli families in need.

According to Taiwan's Foreign Affairs Ministry, cooperation with Israel has expanded in recent years across areas including academic exchange, agriculture, and health, with more than 36 agreements and memorandums of understanding having been signed.

Relations between Israel and China have become increasingly strained in recent years. In 2022, after years of expanding Chinese involvement in Israeli infrastructure projects, Israeli military expert Brig.-Gen. Assaf Orion, head of the Israel-China Policy Center in Tel Aviv, said, “The honeymoon in relations between Israel and China is over.”

China's embassy described the Israeli delegation’s visit to Taiwan as “provocative” and “despicable.”

The embassy spokesperson reiterated that when Israel and China established diplomatic relations in 1992, Israel recognized that Taiwan is part of China, under the “one-China” policy, and warned that lawmakers should “not fantasize that they can cross red lines on the Taiwan question without paying a price.”

“There is only one China in the world, and Taiwan is an inseparable part of China’s territory,” claimed the Chinese embassy spokesperson in Israel, as cited in China’s Global Times. “The government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China.”

The embassy added, “We call on the relevant Knesset members to immediately stop their wrong words and actions,” and said that they should not underestimate China’s determination to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity.