Taiwanese independence advocates protested in Taipei on Wednesday against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s alignment with China regarding Taiwan’s status.
Putin visited Beijing and met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on Friday last week for the opening of Winter Olympic Games. A joint statement was later issued saying that the countries’ partnership had “no limits” and that Russia supports China’s claim to Taiwan.
Sim Kiantek (沈建德), convener of the self-proclaimed Provisional Government of Formosa, led protesters outside Russia’s de facto embassy, the Representative Office in Taipei for the Moscow-Taipei Coordination Commission on Economic and Cultural Cooperation.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Russia does not have the right to speak against Taiwan’s nationhood, Sim said, adding that Putin should support Taiwanese independence, as it is in Russia’s best interests to cooperate economically and politically with Taiwan.
Putin and Xi have been “deceived” by the Cairo Declaration, which is a “gross distortion of history,” he added.
“In the Atlantic Charter of 1941, US president Franklin Roosevelt and British prime minister Winston Churchill respected the sovereign rights and self-government of all peoples, including Taiwanese, and this principle was supported by Russia in a UN declaration in 1942,” Sim said.
Taiwan Republic Office director Chilly Chen (陳峻涵) also spoke on the matter.
“We believe that Putin only agreed to the communique to satisfy Xi and support the Beijing Olympic Games,” Chen said.
“The communique from Xi and Putin is just a statement on paper. It has no international legal authority,” he said. “Taiwan is not part of China, and Taiwanese people are the master of this homeland, which outsiders cannot take away from us.”
A person surnamed Huang (黃) accepted a protest letter from the demonstrators on behalf of the office’s management, Sim said.
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