Building Bridges Through Sports: Opportunities for Sweden – Taiwan Collaboration

This webinar brings together parliamentarians from Sweden and Taiwan to discuss opportunities and challenges in strengthening bilateral ties through sports. Both speakers have backgrounds in government and a long-standing engagement in sports. Their insights will offer Swedish and Taiwanese perspectives on how sports diplomacy can serve as a bridge for deeper bilateral relations and mutual understanding.

Sweden and Taiwan are geographically distant, and Sweden does not officially recognize Taiwan as an independent country. Nonetheless, bilateral relations have deepened through education, cultural exchanges, and trade. In recent years, the Taiwan Friendship Group in Riksdag (Swedish parliament) has become increasingly diverse. The voices to raise awareness of Taiwan’s importance has gradually shifted from being primarily a right-wing issue to one echoed across the Riksdag,  signaling Sweden’s growing recognition of Taiwan’s significance.

Despite this progress, developing official channels of cooperation remains difficult due to pressure from Beijing. As a result, Taiwan has sought to diversify its diplomatic outreach. Sports diplomacy has gradually emerged as one of the strategies valued by the current Lai administration, reflecting a broader effort to enhance Taiwan’s visibility and international engagement.

In September, Taiwan established a new Ministry of Sports – an important milestone for advancing its sports development and global presence. With Taiwan’s new ministry in place, there is an opportunity to explore partnerships with like-minded nations. Sweden has a long-standing and deeply rooted sports culture: according to the Swedish Sports Confederation (Riksidrottsförbundet), the country is home to around 18000 sports clubs with more than 3.1 million members – nearly one-third of its population.

A greater collaboration in sports between Sweden and Taiwan could complement existing trade, education and cultural exchanges by fostering mutual understanding and long-term people-to-people ties. Sports offer an inclusive and dynamic platform for engagement, allowing Taiwan to connect more directly with Swedish civil society and increase public awareness of its identity and values. This potential raises important questions about how to leverage sports to foster deeper connections between nations:

• Can sports diplomacy become an effective avenue for bringing Sweden and Taiwan closer together?
• How can Sweden and Taiwan develop closer relations though sports?

Join the webinar to explore the opportunities and challenges of Sweden – Taiwan sports diplomacy and the potential it holds for deepening bilateral relations.

Speakers:

Mr. Mathias Tegnér is a Member of the Swedish Parliament, representing the Social Democratic Party since 2014. He currently serves on the Committee on Taxation and the Committee on EU Affairs and has previously been a member of the Committees on Industry and Trade, and Social Insurance. He is also a Deputy Member of the General Council of the Swedish Central Bank (Riksbanken).

In addition to his parliamentary work, Mr. Tegnér is actively engaged in sports administration. He is President of the Stockholm Ice Hockey Federation and a board member of the Swedish Ice Hockey Federation. He has been involved in ice hockey for over three decades, both as a referee and in various leadership positions within the sport.

Mr. Tegnér holds a Master of Science in Business and Economics from the Stockholm School of Economics and a Bachelor of Arts in History from Stockholm University. Before entering Parliament, he worked in the private sector in managerial and financial roles.

Dr. Chien Chi Lin is a Member of the Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China (Taiwan), affiliated with the Kuomintang and of Amis Indigenous heritage. Although not elected through an Indigenous constituency, she has long regarded Indigenous affairs and cultural equity as central to my public service. Prior to her election in 2024, she held senior positions overseeing cultural and Indigenous affairs in both Kaohsiung County and New Taipei City, with a sustained commitment to policy integration and cultural governance.

With an academic background in the arts and a doctoral degree from the University of Washington, Dr. Lin’s professional work operates at the confluence of cultural policy, Indigenous identity, and institutional reform. Within the legislature, I focus on advancing legislation related to athletic development, Indigenous education, and Austronesian cultural diplomacy, emphasizing structural approaches and cross-sectoral collaboration.

In parallel with her political career, Dr. Lin is also an amateur athlete aspiring toward professional-level performance, having earned a gold medal in women’s sailing at the 2025 World Masters Games. My legislative accomplishments include the institutionalization of Indigenous Peoples’ Resistance Day and amendments to tax regulations designed to incentivize private-sector sponsorship of cultural and athletic initiatives.

Moderator: Yi-Chieh Chen, Project Manager and Junior Research Fellow, Stockholm Taiwan Center, ISDP