The event traces seventy-five years of relations – both formal and informal – between Italy and Taiwan: a chapter largely overlooked by Italian historiography, yet one that is useful for understanding how a medium-sized European power operates in East Asia, a theme directly linked to the central theme of this edition. The narrative begins in the early 1950s, with Italian missions to the island and commercial surveys carried out by companies and credit institutions, and spans the entire Cold War period, when bilateral relations remained suspended between Taipei’s overtures, Washington’s expectations and the growing focus on mainland China. After 1970, the relationship changed form without coming to a halt: official diplomacy gave way to economic exchanges, the presence of Italian companies and technicians on the island, academic and cultural ties, and associative networks. It is a story of informal channels and balances maintained over a long period, which archival documentation now allows us to reconstruct.
Axel Berkofsky (University of Pavia, ISPI) will introduce and lead the discussion, broadening the perspective to include Europe and the Indo-Pacific. The discussion takes its cue from two recent works: the article by Lorenzo Termine (UNINT), ‘When ideology stops at the water’s edge. Italy’s centre-right parties, US–China competition and Taiwan’, published in 2026 in the Journal of Contemporary European Studies, and the book by Stefano Pelaggi (Centro Studi Geopolitica.info), Governare il vuoto. Le relazioni diplomatiche
