Europe emerges from the shadows at Taiwan's largest defence show

By Ben Blanchard

TAIPEI (Reuters) -In an arms market long dominated by the United States, Europe raised its profile at Taiwan’s largest defence show last week as countries there take tentative steps to help the island deal with an increasingly aggressive China.

Democratically governed Taiwan has traditionally relied on the United States for most of its arms purchases, with no major orders from Europe for three decades due to the fear of incurring the wrath of Beijing, which views the island as its own territory. Taiwan rejects China’s sovereignty claims and says only the island’s people can decide their future.

While many countries, especially in Europe, are nervous about any defence cooperation with Taiwan due to fears of Chinese retaliation, Taipei has found an increasingly sympatheti