Taiwan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Francois Wu quietly travelled to Israel in recent weeks, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. The unpublicised trip comes as Taipei intensifies its search for advanced defence cooperation partners, especially those experienced in countering missile threats.

Despite Taiwan’s limited formal diplomatic relations—largely due to pressure from Beijing, which claims the island as its territory—Wu’s visit marks a rare high-level engagement with Israel. Like most countries, Israel recognises Beijing rather than Taipei, making such diplomatic interactions unusual.

However, relations between Taiwan and Israel have warmed in the past year. Following the October 2023 Hamas assault on southern Israel and the subsequent conflict in Gaza, Taipei expressed strong support for Israel. Since then, the two sides have increased their exchanges across strategic and technical domains.

Sources, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the trip, confirmed that Wu travelled to Israel recently, with two indicating the visit took place earlier this month. They declined to disclose whom Wu met or the nature of the discussions, including whether talks involved T-Dome, Taiwan’s new multi-layered air defence architecture unveiled in October. The system draws partial inspiration from Israel’s well-known air defence technologies.

Taiwan’s foreign ministry refused to confirm Wu’s travel, instead highlighting that Taiwan and Israel “share the values of freedom and democracy” and will continue to deepen cooperation in sectors such as technology, trade, and culture. Israel’s foreign ministry did not respond to inquiries.

Wu’s Expanding International Profile

Before assuming his current post, Wu served as Taiwan’s de facto ambassador in Paris and has become one of the island’s most visible diplomatic advocates. His most recent public overseas appearance was at the Berlin Security Conference on November 19.

Taiwan has long identified strategic parallels between its security environment and Israel’s. As Taiwan faces ongoing military pressure from China, it closely follows how Israel manages threats from regional rivals such as Iran. Earlier this year, Israel intercepted waves of missile and drone attacks during brief escalations with Tehran.

China, meanwhile, maintains close ties with the Palestinians and recognised a Palestinian state in 1988—an approach Taiwan has indicated it will not follow.

Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung recently acknowledged “mutual learning” between Taiwan and Israel in defence technology. He noted similarities between Taiwan’s T-Dome system and Israel’s Iron Dome, although both nations employ different layers and configurations.

Israel’s defences include the Iron Dome, David’s Sling, Arrow systems, and U.S.-made THAAD. Taiwan’s T-Dome seeks to integrate its existing systems—from U.S.-built Patriot missiles to domestically produced Sky Bow interceptors—into a unified “sensor-to-shooter” network designed to improve response speed and accuracy.