Last year, China entered into a spat with Lithuania over Vilnius allowing Taipei to open a de facto embassy using the name “Taiwan.” Beijing recalled its ambassadors from Lithuania and downgraded its diplomatic ties with the Baltic state to the “charge d’affaires” level.
In hindsight, China should realize that this move handed Lithuania on a plate to Taiwan.
China used its economic leverage as punishment. First, it tried to pressure German industry giant Continental AG to stop using Lithuanian-made components. When an EU trade commissioner said that Chinese customs were refusing to clear goods containing Lithuanian parts, China denied it was at fault, but it was too late; it had crossed the EU’s red line in adopting unfair trade measures.
China, which has been using its economic clout to bully others, underestimated Lithuania. What started as a diplomatic dispute evolved into an issue that concerns “safeguarding the European single market from attack.”
France, which has assumed the EU presidency, was keen to deploy anti-coercion trade measures. German Minister of Foreign Affairs Annalena Baerbock said that the EU would stand in solidarity against China’s threats, while the US has voiced its support for Vilnius.
China then tried to stir up antagonistic sentiment between Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda and Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte. The president had expressed his annoyance that he was not consulted on the name for the Taiwanese representative office.
To China’s grave disappointment, Nauseda was just expressing affronted feelings for the undermining of his authority on foreign relations, while Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Gabrielius Landsbergis reiterated his support for Taiwan.
In an interview in November last year, Lithuanian Member of Parliament Matas Maldeikis, chairman of the Parliamentary Group for Relations with Taiwan, said that the dispute between Nauseda and Simonyte is routine political rivalry in a democratic country.
Beijing’s inclination to take advantage of its trading partners has deteriorated relations with major countries and blocs. The EU, the US and NATO nations’ backing of Lithuania is not just about defending an ally, it is about teaching China a lesson.
The European Parliament is to continue supporting Taiwan by voting on two foreign policy reviews next month. The Common Foreign and Security Policy and Common Security and Defence Policy are said to include pro-Taiwan recommendations and are expected to pass.
Calling Taiwan by its name is not only an act of justice, but a necessity. Now that the EU is aligning with the US to rein in China, Taiwan is an indispensable ally in the anti-China coalition.
What of the name the Republic of China (ROC)? Because of China’s efforts to isolate Taiwan, it has only been able to participate in international activities under alternative names and pseudonyms.
Even though the political situation has changed, there remains a minority of Taiwanese who would like to keep the ROC name. However, if the name has not worked its magic in diplomatic affairs in the past, it would only create further confusion now.
The advocates of the ROC name can freely express their views in private, but in the realm of diplomatic affairs, the government should push for a Taiwanese agenda by using the name Taiwan.
Taiwan’s ability to use its actual name on the international stage should be a given.
Tommy Lin is director of Wu Fu Eye Clinic and president of the Formosa Republican Association.
Translated by Rita Wang
A failure by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to respond to Israel’s brilliant 12-day (June 12-23) bombing and special operations war against Iran, topped by US President Donald Trump’s ordering the June 21 bombing of Iranian deep underground nuclear weapons fuel processing sites, has been noted by some as demonstrating a profound lack of resolve, even “impotence,” by China. However, this would be a dangerous underestimation of CCP ambitions and its broader and more profound military response to the Trump Administration — a challenge that includes an acceleration of its strategies to assist nuclear proxy states, and developing a wide array
Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康), former chairman of Broadcasting Corp of China and leader of the “blue fighters,” recently announced that he had canned his trip to east Africa, and he would stay in Taiwan for the recall vote on Saturday. He added that he hoped “his friends in the blue camp would follow his lead.” His statement is quite interesting for a few reasons. Jaw had been criticized following media reports that he would be traveling in east Africa during the recall vote. While he decided to stay in Taiwan after drawing a lot of flak, his hesitation says it all: If
Twenty-four Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers are facing recall votes on Saturday, prompting nearly all KMT officials and lawmakers to rally their supporters over the past weekend, urging them to vote “no” in a bid to retain their seats and preserve the KMT’s majority in the Legislative Yuan. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which had largely kept its distance from the civic recall campaigns, earlier this month instructed its officials and staff to support the recall groups in a final push to protect the nation. The justification for the recalls has increasingly been framed as a “resistance” movement against China and
Owing to the combined majority of the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), the legislature last week voted to further extend the current session to the end of next month, prolonging the session twice for a total of 211 days, the longest in Taiwan’s democratic history. Legally, the legislature holds two regular sessions annually: from February to May, and from September to December. The extensions pushed by the opposition in May and last week mean there would be no break between the first and second sessions this year. While the opposition parties said the extensions were needed to
RSS