The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday criticized Beijing’s embassy in Seoul over “despicable” comments protesting a visit of a delegation to Taiwan last week led by South Korean National Assembly Deputy Speaker Chung Woo-taik.
In a post on WeChat, an embassy spokesperson said that the lawmakers’ visit contravenes the “one China” principle and harms the development of friendly relations between China and South Korea.
When referring to the visit, the spokesperson used the derogatory term cuan fang (竄訪), which equates the lawmakers to rats “scurrying” around. Beijing had used the term before when discussing then-US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan last year.
Photo from South Korean lawmaker Lee Dal-gon’s Facebook page
The spokesperson also said “Taiwan independence secessionist forces” and meddling by foreign forces were threatening stability in the Taiwan Strait.
Taiwan “solemnly censures” the Chinese ambassador in South Korea, who made comments that “seriously distorted facts and infringed on the dignity of South Korea and our country’s sovereignty,” the ministry said in a statement.
“China’s overturning of right and wrong, its uncouth language and its wolf warrior behavior can only be described as despicable,” the statement said.
Taipei’s reception of foreign guests, including major political figures and lawmakers, is “an exercise of national sovereignty and a normal activity of democracies,” it said.
The international community agrees that Taiwan and China are non-subordinate, sovereign nations, and that the People’s Republic of China has never governed Taiwan, the ministry said.
Taiwan and South Korea are democratic, sovereign countries, and Seoul has the right to conduct relations with any foreign nation it wishes, including Taiwan, it added.
The statement said that Beijing’s complaints are baseless, as the South Korea-Taiwan Friendship Association had visited the nation every year prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and thanked the visiting lawmakers for their significant contributions to bilateral relations.
Taiwan and South Korea share the universal values of freedom, democracy and the rule of law, and have close ties in matters of substance including trade and mutual visits, it said.
The statement also said that Seoul declared the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait in 2020, and has often repeated that message since, including in last month’s publication of its strategic document for the Indo-Pacific region.
“Again, the Chinese government did not heed facts and acted in bad faith in its futile attempt to impede Taiwan’s conduct of normal relations with the rest of the world,” it said, calling for democratic countries to support Taiwan.
“China should stop its presumptuous behavior toward South Korea’s parliamentarian diplomacy,” South Korean lawmaker Cho Kyoung-tae said.
Beijing’s actions were “not the behavior of a normal country,” the Korea Times cited him as saying. “Interference into domestic affairs should not occur.”
Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) told a ribbon-cutting ceremony in New Taipei City that Beijing’s interference in Taiwan’s affairs makes China “a bad neighbor, always meddling and trying to start arguments.”
“The world judges China on its unneighborly behavior,” he added.
CALL FOR PEACE: Czech President Petr Pavel raised concerns about China’s military maneuvers in the Taiwan Strait and its ‘unfriendly action’ in the South China Sea The leaders of three diplomatic allies — Guatemala, Paraguay and Palau — on Tuesday voiced support for Taiwan’s inclusion in the UN on the first day of the UN General Debate in New York. In his address during the 78th UN General Assembly, Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr urged the UN and all parties involved in cross-strait issues to exercise restraint and seek a peaceful resolution. “The well-being and prosperity of nations and their economies are intrinsically linked to global peace and stability,” he said. He also thanked partner nations such as Taiwan, Australia, Japan and the US for providing assistance
CROSS-STRAIT CONCERNS: At the same US Congress hearing, Mira Resnick said a US government shutdown could affect weapons sales and licenses to allies such as Taiwan A Chinese blockade of Taiwan would be a “monster risk” for Beijing and likely to fail, while a military invasion would be extremely difficult, senior Pentagon officials told the US Congress on Tuesday. Growing worries of a conflict come as China has ramped up military pressure on Taiwan, holding large-scale war games simulating a blockade on the nation, while conducting near-daily warplane incursions and sending Chinese vessels around its waters. US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Ely Ratner said a blockade would be “a monster risk for the PRC [People’s Republic of China].” “It would likely not succeed, and it
‘HARASSMENT’: A record 103 Chinese warplanes were detected in 24 hours, posing severe challenges to security in the Taiwan Strait and the region, the ministry said Taiwan yesterday told China to stop its “destructive unilateral actions” after more than 100 Chinese warplanes and nine navy ships were detected in areas around the nation. The Ministry of National Defense (MND) described the number of warplanes detected in 24 hours as a “recent high,” while Beijing has so far refrained from issuing any official comment on the sorties. “Between the morning of September 17th to 18th, the Ministry of National Defense had detected a total of 103 Chinese aircraft, which was a recent high and has posed severe challenges to the security across the Taiwan Strait and in the region,”
IMPORTS: Fifty-four million imported eggs with a value of more than NT$200 million had to be destroyed, mostly because they expired in storage facilities Minister of Agriculture Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) last night announced that he would resign from his post. Local media on Sunday reported that Chen had resigned due to controversy over the ministry’s egg import program. Later that same evening, the Executive Yuan said that Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) had asked the minister to stay on to resolve the issue. Chen Chi-chung last night made public his decision to resign on Facebook, saying that this time he would not be dissuaded. Chen Chi-chung earlier yesterday apologized for the furor surrounding the egg import program, but added that misinformation had made the problems worse. The government was
RSS