China is solely responsible for Taiwan's severance of diplomatic ties with Chad, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday.
"We are calling on the public to stop harboring any illusion toward the Chinese government and to voice their strongest condemnation of Beijing's barbaric behavior," council Chairman Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said.
Wu made the remark after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced late on Saturday that the nation had decided to cut diplomatic relations with Chad because the African nation had chosen to recognize China.
Wu said yesterday that China deliberately picked a time when Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) was supposed to depart for the African country to attend Chadian President Idriss Deby's inauguration to force Chad to switch diplomatic recognition.
"Its purpose is to humiliate the Taiwanese government and its people," Wu said. "The administration and people of Taiwan feel exasperated and ashamed of China's behavior. [China] must be held fully responsible for all possible consequences that this incident may have on cross-strait relations."
This was the second time Su was forced to cancel his visit to a diplomatic ally because of Chinese repression.
The premier planned to visit Haiti in May as President Chen Shui-bian's (
Su was forced to call it off weeks before the departure because China took advantage of its UN seat to bully Haiti, threatening Preval that the international organization would withdraw its forces if Su attended the inauguration.
Wu criticized China for adopting a two-handed strategy toward Taiwan: offering friendship on the one hand and increasing its military presence and hindering Taiwan's diplomatic space on the other.
Wu emphasized that Taiwan is an independent, sovereign state and has never been a subordinate of China.
"From the viewpoint of international law, Taiwan enjoys an independent status and its sovereignty belongs to the 23 million people of Taiwan," Wu said. "That is an indisputable fact arising from public consensus."
Wu called on the international community to denounce China's flagrant suppression of Taiwan and its bullying tactics.
With the Chinese government's continuous efforts to humiliate Taiwan on the diplomatic front, Wu said that "it has made us realize that China's claims of cross-straits relations improving since the enactment of its `Anti-Secession' Law are all naked lies," he said.
Wu added that China has shown its true colors and urged the public and all political parties to cast aside partisan differences and work in concert to safeguard the nation's diplomatic interests and dignity.
When asked about the planned visit of the head of China's Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) Chen Yunlin (陳雲林), Wu said that his council would not allow the Chinese official to visit Taiwan unless he's coming to apologize to the people of Taiwan.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has announced that it was planning to invite Chen Yunlin to its "cross-strait agricultural cooperation" forum in October in Taipei, pending the council's approval.
Vice President Annette Lu (
Describing China's move as a "deliberate humiliation" to the nation, Presidential Office Secretary-General Mark Chen (
Speaking at his residence late last night, Su acknowledged the efforts the foreign ministry had made to deal with the diplomatic crisis between Taiwan and Chad.
Su said the severing of diplomatic ties between the two countries was not a personal matter.
The premier also urged the public not to have any illusions about China's intentions.
additional reporting by Flora Wang
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