President Tsai Ing-wen has prioritized Taiwan-Australia ties as part of her New Southbound Policy, and there’s momentum on both sides toward a potential trade agreement.

The Diplomat
Date: December 07, 2020
By: Nick Aspinwall   

In 2003, members of U.S. Congress dined on “freedom fries” after France declined to support an invasion of Iraq. In 2020, in response to Beijing’s move to raise taxes on Australian products, Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry is showing its support by drinking “freedom wine.”

The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), a group of over 200 parliamentarians from 19 countries, launched a campaign on Tuesday to purchase Australian wines in support of the country as tensions between Canberra and Beijing continue to flare. Taiwanese diplomats eagerly joined in – because what’s better than a drink for a good cause?

“We stand in solidarity with #Australia by serving #FreedomWine at @MOFA_Taiwan,” the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) tweeted on December 1 along with a photo of a person holding two bottles of Australian wine and the hashtag #StrongerTogether.

Hsiao Bi-khim, Taiwan’s representative to the United States, retweeted IPAC’s campaign announcement and said “Thinking of stocking up on Australian wine.”   [FULL STORY]