The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday extended its appreciation to Brazilian Deputy Paulo Eduardo Martins, who disclosed a letter from the Chinese embassy in Sao Paulo to local lawmakers demanding that they not congratulate President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on her inauguration on Wednesday last week.
In a tweet on Monday, Martins posted a photograph of the letter, which stated that the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the Brazilian Congress, should respect its “one China” principle by not delivering any congratulatory remarks to Tsai’s second-term inauguration.
The disclosure sparked a series of posts on Twitter from Brazilians with the hashtag #VivaTaiwan, which means “long live Taiwan” in Portuguese, to show their backing for Taiwan and express concern over Beijing’s influence.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times
It was one of the top three trending hashtags on Twitter on the day following Martin’s post.
Tsai on Tuesday used the hashtag to express her gratitude to Brazilian supporters of Taiwan.
“Thank you to all of our friends in #Brazil for your kind congratulations, and I hope you are all staying safe & healthy. #VivaTaiwan #VivaBrazil,” she tweeted.
Asked for comment during a news briefing in Taipei yesterday, ministry spokesperson Joanne Ou (歐江安) expressed her gratitude for Martins’ safeguarding of democratic values, as well as for his congratulatory remarks, adding that the ministry also thanks the Brazilian public for their support for Taiwan.
Freedom of speech is a fundamental human right, and democracy is a mutual value shared by Taiwan and Brazil, she said.
As of yesterday, 275 dignitaries from 49 nations and international organizations, including presidents, prime ministers and lawmakers, had sent congratulatory remarks to Tsai for her inauguration, she said.
As Brazil adheres to a one China policy, it does not have diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but the two nations maintain unofficial ties through representative offices.
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