Somewhere at the confluence of politics, commerce and shared values driving a recent wave of Canadian fascination with Taiwan, there were the island鈥檚 鈥渇reedom pineapples.鈥�

In 2021, imports of the fruit enjoyed a spike in interest internationally when China banned them from its market.

Taiwan鈥檚 Foreign Ministry urged 鈥渓ike-minded friends鈥� around the world to stand up to China by buying 鈥渇reedom pineapples,鈥� and the 91原创enon took off.

At Kuohua Trading Co., a Taiwanese supermarket in Richmond, B.C., a member of the sales staff said on Friday that while they only imported a small number of pineapples during the campaign, they sold quickly and created word-of-mouth advertising on social media.

鈥淲ord spreads quickly online,鈥� she said.

Overall Canadian trade with Taiwan is up sharply. There has also been a spate of visits by Canadian politicians, despite a lack of formal diplomatic relations.

Canada-China ties might be chilly, but Taiwan 鈥� which split from mainland China amid a civil war in 1949 鈥� is hot right now.

Lihsin Angel Liu, director-general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Vancouver and Taiwan鈥檚 main representative in Western Canada, said part of that is 鈥渟ympathy鈥� since Russia鈥檚 invasion of Ukraine.

She said she had seen more willingness from Canadian officials to engage Taiwan since the pandemic 鈥� albeit with the One China Policy as a guiding framework. The policy dating back to 1970 recognizes the People鈥檚 Republic as the sole legitimate government of China, but doesn鈥檛 endorse or challenge its positions on Taiwan.

The Communist government of China regards Taiwan as a renegade province.

鈥淢y experience 鈥� is that anything I do involves the China factor,鈥� Liu said. 鈥淪o international participation, Canada-Taiwan relations, provincial level, federal level, Canadians do care about their relationship with China, especially the PRC authority.

鈥淗owever, because of the Ukrainian war, I think we have earned a lot of sympathy, and we have earned a lot of support from the European countries as well as from Canadian government. Our bilateral ties (are) progressing in a very flexible way, in a very tangible way that we see as a positive direction to push forward.鈥�

In October, Canada and Taiwan completed negotiations of a foreign investment promotion and protection arrangement, or FIPA, a major bilateral deal that鈥檚 expected to spur more economic links.

Canada鈥檚 trade with Taiwan has already ballooned in recent years. According to Statistics Canada, Canadian exports to Taiwan have grown 53 per cent from $1.7 billion in 2017 to $2.6 billion last year.

Canadian imports from Taiwan, meanwhile, are up 76 per cent from $5.4 billion in 2017 to $9.5 billion in 2022.

The Canadian International Council think tank holds regular discussions on foreign topics among its 18 branches.

The most popular subjects this year have been Russia-Ukraine with 13 discussions, and the United States with 11.

But outpacing heavy hitters such as China (two) and India (four) was Taiwan, which took centre stage at seven sessions.

Chris Kilford, president of the think tank鈥檚 Victoria branch, said Canadian interest in the self-governing island has risen recently.

He said that鈥檚 partly due to speculation about China鈥檚 intentions in the wake of Russia鈥檚 invasion of Ukraine.

鈥淥nce we saw the invasion take place in February of 2022, in the media especially people began to wonder if China might attempt to invade Taiwan,鈥� Kilford said.

鈥淪o naturally amongst our members and within the Canadian public, there were a lot of questions about this.鈥�

Since October 2022, four groups of Canadian parliamentarians have visited Taiwan鈥檚 political leaders 鈥� including three this year. There were no documented parliamentary visits in 2019 and one in 2018.

There haven鈥檛 been any Canadian parliamentarian visits to China since the pandemic, according to activities recorded by the Canada-China Legislative Association. When federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault visited Beijing this year, it was Canada鈥檚 first ministerial visit since 2019.

Those numbers are not coincidental, said Hugh Stephens, who is a distinguished fellow of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not that relations with Taiwan improve as relations with China decline,鈥� Stephens said.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not a direct inverse relationship, but we all have to admit that there is a factor there.

鈥淪o the fact that Canada-China relations are, I guess you could probably call them in the deep freeze, that provides a little more headroom, perhaps a little more policy space to not be quite so concerned about Beijing鈥檚 reaction as long as we stay within the confines of the (One China Policy).鈥�

In a March report in the House of Commons, the special committee on the Canada-PRC relationship recommended a number of steps in Ottawa鈥檚 engagement with Taiwan, including 鈥渆ncouraging visits by parliamentary delegations鈥� and exploring 鈥渙pportunities to collaborate with Taiwan鈥檚 semiconductor industry to enhance innovation in Canada.鈥�

On the military front, a Canadian frigate this year accompanied U.S. naval vessels sailing through the Taiwan Strait on multiple occasions, the latest in November.

Last year, Canada launched its Indo-Pacific Strategy as a 鈥渃omprehensive road map鈥� of future engagement in Asia. It mentioned Taiwan seven times, in topics such as Indigenous reconciliation and economic co-operation, and the Taiwan Strait a further three times.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 pretty unusual because generally, we tended to do our deals with Taiwan but not make too much fuss about it, to do it quietly,鈥� Stephens said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no attempt to hide our interest in Taiwan (in the strategy).鈥�

Taiwanese tycoon Nelson Chang was in Maple Ridge, B.C., last month to announce a new billion-dollar lithium-ion battery factory.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and federal Innovation Minister Fran莽ois-Philippe Champagne were by his side.

While Chang didn鈥檛 mention geopolitics or China during his speech, he did emphasize shared values as one of the key reasons his company, E-One Moli Energy, decided to expand in Canada.

鈥淲e believe that human freedom is a chance for us to do good for others and appreciating life鈥檚 fleeting nature, to leave a positive impact on the world,鈥� Chang said.

鈥淒espite the challenges we face today, we have the power to choose a path that will lead to a better future.鈥�

Liu said the E-One Moli announcement received significant attention in Taiwan, and hopes it inspires others in the green energy sector to explore working with Canada.

鈥淭he world economy is turning from globalization to friend-shoring, near-shoring or just to do business with the countries you share the same values with,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o Canada is doing (it) the same way.鈥�

But challenges remain for Taiwan on the international stage.

The island has been unsuccessful gaining admission to groupings such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade bloc and the World Health Organization.

Liu said her recent visit to Prairie provinces confirmed that many Canadians still view Taiwan through the lens of China and its immense economic influence.

鈥淚 talked to one of the mainstream media representatives (there), and he admitted 鈥� people in the Prairie provinces probably pay less attention except when it鈥檚 related to their canola exports to China, because it鈥檚 related to their daily lives, their income, their revenue,鈥� Liu said.

Taiwan is Canada鈥檚 12th largest trade partner with total trade in 2022 reaching $12 billion, while trade with China 鈥� Canada鈥檚 second largest partner 鈥� accounted for $129 billion in the same time period.

Stephens said it鈥檚 likely the Canada-Taiwan equation will always involve calculations about China, and ties between Ottawa and Beijing won鈥檛 always be so chilly. Relations were driven down by the arrest of Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver in 2018 and Beijing鈥檚 subsequent arrests of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor.

However, Stephens said there was 鈥渘o going back鈥� on the new wave of engagement with Taiwan 鈥� as long at it stays within the flexible ambiguity of the One China Policy.

鈥淚t鈥檚 filling up the vacant policy space at a time when it鈥檚 perhaps a little bit easier to do because of the coolness of Canada-China relations,鈥� he said.

鈥淥nce that policy space has been filled up and Canada-China relations resume their pace, I don鈥檛 see a rolling back. It has to be a new accommodation to those realities.鈥�

Chuck Chiang, The Canadian Press

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