An attack launched against Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) has no precedent in the international community, underscoring not only China’s lack of etiquette, but also how far it is from acting as a member of “civilized society,” the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday.
In a lengthy denouncement of Wu late on Thursday, the TAO said that he is a “diehard” supporter of Taiwanese independence who peddles the lie that Taiwan is a sovereign nation.
The TAO accused Wu of distorting UN General Assembly Resolution 2758, adding that Wu’s actions to engineer Taiwan observer status at the World Health Assembly and his efforts to gain international support for Taiwan to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership openly challenged the globally accepted “one China” principle.
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times
It quoted a poem written by former Chinese leader Mao Zedong (毛澤東) in 1963, The River All Red, which was a denunciation of the Soviet Union and the US.
“All forms of comments on Taiwan independence are but flies ‘humming, with a burst of shrilling and a fit of sobbing,’” it said.
While the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the attack was “not worthy” of comment, the council denounced it as “slander and abuse.”
The level of vitriol aimed at Wu was unprecedented and only further highlights China’s boorish incivility and how far it is from being part of civilized society, the council said.
UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 never addressed the issue of representation of Taiwan and its people at the UN, nor did it address relations between Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China, it said.
Beijing is attempting to upset the international order and trying to erroneously link the UN resolution to its “one China” principle, it added.
Taiwan is within its rights to participate in any international organization or regional economic agreement and Beijing has no right to intervene, the council said, adding that the international community would not allow Beijing to unilaterally change the rules for states wishing to participate on the international stage.
The government urges Beijing to recognize the realities of cross-strait relations and to cease its acts of intimidation, it said.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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