The ambassador of the Republic of China (Taiwan) in Prague, H.E. Liang-Ruey Ke, has signed a partnership agreement with the European Values Center for Security Policy (EVC) regarding his government’s support for the opening of EVC’s planned Taipei office.
EVC will be the first private European think tank to open an office in Taipei. The office is scheduled to open its doors in the second half of 2021 as part of the EVC Red Watch Program. Red Watch is EVC’s flagship program focusing on Chinese influence operations.
Since 2015, EVC’s reporting, analyses, and advocacy work have concentrated on disinformation and malign foreign influence in the West. Today, our Kremlin Watch Program is one of the most impactful initiatives covering Russian influence operations in Europe, having been cited in reports by the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee and many European national security institutions. EVC analysts regularly brief security institutions in more than twenty countries, including the NATO Political Committee, as well as members of the US Congress, the UK House of Commons, and the German Bundestag. EVC also served as an official consulting body of the Czech Ministry of Interior during the National Security Audit conducted in 2016–17. Established in 2005, the Prague-based EVC currently employs a staff of twenty-four and is one of the largest nongovernmental organizations focused on foreign interference in Europe.
EVC’s director, Jakub Janda, says: “Taiwanese institutions have much to say about Chinese interference activities and how to deal with them. They have studied and resisted the Chinese Communist regime for decades, which is something that Europeans need to learn as well. We hope to bring more of Taiwan’s priceless knowledge to Europe and to show our European counterparts that it is perfectly normal to cooperate with our friendly fellow democracy in Taiwan. Our aim is to help facilitate more cooperation between European and Taiwanese institutions on security- and defense-related issues.”
The head of the future EVC Taipei office, Richard Kraemer, will oversee the office’s establishment. He says he is “enthusiastic about the mission ahead and sees the project as a great opportunity for Taiwan and Europe.”
“I’m honored to serve as the interim director of EVC’s Taipei office, where we’ll be building bridges between the governments of Taiwan, Europe, and the USA and civil society in those countries. Since its first elections in the 1990s, Taiwan has overcome mighty challenges on its road to becoming the strongest democracy in the region. This is a tremendous tribute to the values and fortitude of its people, who persevere despite the existential threat from Beijing. I’m thrilled to be working with them.”
Prior to joining EVC as its senior analyst for the Western Balkans in 2020, Kraemer held senior programming positions at the National Endowment for Democracy and the Center for International Private Enterprise. He has also served in legal advisory capacities to the governments of Montenegro and the Republic of Georgia. A committed transatlanticist, Kraemer is the board president of the US–Europe Alliance, a bipartisan public advocacy organization.
He can be contacted by the media or partners at [email protected].
