As Ireland prepares to assume the EU Presidency in 2026, its cautious approach to Taiwan continues to draw attention. Why does Ireland remain an outlier among EU member states in its engagement with Taipei, and how much is that caution driven by concerns about Ireland–China relations?
In this episode, we speak with John McGuinness, Leas-Cheann Comhairle, Fianna Fáil TD for Carlow–Kilkenny, and Chairman of the Ireland–Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, about his recent visit to Taiwan and meeting with President William Lai. We discuss opportunities for cooperation under Ireland’s National Semiconductor Strategy, potential trade growth in the semiconductor industry, agri-food exports, and technology sectors — and whether Ireland is missing key trade opportunities with Taiwan. We also explore how China’s influence and EU foreign policy dynamics are shaping Ireland’s diplomatic balancing act between Beijing and Taipei.
Date of Recording: November 7th, 2025
Thumbnail picture courtesy of the Office of the President, Republic of China, Taiwan.
#Ireland, #Taiwan, #China, #EU, #ForeignPolicy, #Trade, #Semiconductors
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As Ireland prepares to assume the EU Presidency in 2026, its cautious approach to Taiwan continues to draw attention. Why does Ireland remain an outlier among EU member states in its engagement with Taipei, and how much is that caution driven by concerns about Ireland–China relations?
In this episode, we speak with John McGuinness, Leas-Cheann Comhairle, Fianna Fáil TD for Carlow–Kilkenny, and Chairman of the Ireland–Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, about his recent visit to Taiwan and meeting with President William Lai. We discuss opportunities for cooperation under Ireland’s National Semiconductor Strategy, potential trade growth in the semiconductor industry, agri-food exports, and technology sectors — and whether Ireland is missing key trade opportunities with Taiwan. We also explore how China’s influence and EU foreign policy dynamics are shaping Ireland’s diplomatic balancing act between Beijing and Taipei.
Date of Recording: November 7th, 2025
Thumbnail picture courtesy of the Office of the President, Republic of China, Taiwan.
#Ireland, #Taiwan, #China, #EU, #ForeignPolicy, #Trade, #Semiconductors
Taiwan's Great Recall - Ep4 - Interview with Wang Hung-wei Recall Group
Perspectives with Neilo
28 minutes 42 seconds
4 months ago
Taiwan's Great Recall - Ep4 - Interview with Wang Hung-wei Recall Group
Welcome to the fourth installment in our series on Taiwan’s Great Recall in which we aim to bring you perspectives from all sides of the debate at this important moment in Taiwan’s democratic journey.
In our earlier episodes in this series, we spoke with a political scientist, a pro-recall grass roots organization and a Kuomintang or KMT (中國國民黨) representative. Feel free to go back and listen to those episodes which you can find on our blog at pwneilo.com or by searching for Perspectives with Neilo wherever you get your podcasts - and be sure to hit the Subscribe or Follow button as it would really help us a lot!
As we explained in previous episodes, this unprecedented KMT recall stems from a public backlash against months of legislative gridlock, budgetary obstruction, and interference with Taiwan’s highest court—including accusations of collusion with the Chinese Communist Party.
While the recall effort is mostly organized by civil society organizations, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party or DPP (民主進步黨) has recently begun to engage more visibly as the first voting day approaches. Taiwan’s President and DPP party leader Lai Ching-te (賴清德) has also been conducting a series of 10 speeches at various civic centers around Taiwan which media reports indicate is a likely effort to boost DPP turnout in the voting.
Clearly, if enough KMT lawmakers can be unseated and the DPP can reclaim their seats in the follow on election, it would dramatically shift the balance of power in Taiwan’s parliament.
One of the KMT candidates on the recall ballot for July 26th is Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇). She is the deputy secretary general of the KMT legislative caucus and was last elected to the single seater District 3 in Taipei in 2024 with over 52% of the vote. Prior to becoming a national politician she was a Taipei City councillor and before that worked in Journalism.
While Wang Hung-wei is no stranger to controversy, people we spoke to say they are most concerned about her close ties to China. They cite her visit to Beijing in 2024 with KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-Chi (傅崐萁) and their meeting with top CCP politburo official Wang Huning (王滬寧) - a meeting for which they were not able to obtain any readout.
The reason many constituents worry about such meetings is because Wang Huning is credited with being the CCP’s leading ideologist since the 1980s and is also the leader of the organization tasked with what the CCP call the “peaceful reunification of Taiwan".
At the end of June, I went along to a neighborhood gathering at a small cafe in the Songshan district of Taipei. It was organized by the Wang Hung-wei recall group.
I was interested to find out more about the group, hear more about the concerns that were causing them to recall Wang Hong Wei and get their reactions to the questions and accusations from the anti-recall camp.
Subscribe to Perspectives with Neilo for upcoming episodes and updates on Taiwan’s Great Recall.
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#TaiwanPolitics, #TaiwanRecall, #DemocracyInAction, #KMTRecall, #TaiwanElections, #RecallVote2025, #CivicEngagement, #TaiwanDemocracy, #perspectiveswithneilo, #politicalpodcast, #TaiwanPodcasts, #GrassRootsMovement, #ProDemocracy, #ElectoralReform, #CivilSocietyVoices, #StopCCPInfluence, #TaiwanVotes, #PeoplePower
Perspectives with Neilo
As Ireland prepares to assume the EU Presidency in 2026, its cautious approach to Taiwan continues to draw attention. Why does Ireland remain an outlier among EU member states in its engagement with Taipei, and how much is that caution driven by concerns about Ireland–China relations?
In this episode, we speak with John McGuinness, Leas-Cheann Comhairle, Fianna Fáil TD for Carlow–Kilkenny, and Chairman of the Ireland–Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, about his recent visit to Taiwan and meeting with President William Lai. We discuss opportunities for cooperation under Ireland’s National Semiconductor Strategy, potential trade growth in the semiconductor industry, agri-food exports, and technology sectors — and whether Ireland is missing key trade opportunities with Taiwan. We also explore how China’s influence and EU foreign policy dynamics are shaping Ireland’s diplomatic balancing act between Beijing and Taipei.
Date of Recording: November 7th, 2025
Thumbnail picture courtesy of the Office of the President, Republic of China, Taiwan.
#Ireland, #Taiwan, #China, #EU, #ForeignPolicy, #Trade, #Semiconductors
