A senior Chinese official’s boasting about Beijing “taking down” Taiwan’s diplomatic allies highlights the crudeness of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday.
Chinese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Ma Zhaoxu (馬朝旭) earlier that day said poaching Taiwan’s allies was part of Beijing’s efforts to protect national sovereignty since Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) took office.
“Under unreasonable intervention and oppression from foreign forces [China made] strong, targeted efforts to take away the nine so-called diplomatic allies of the Taiwanese,” Ma said. “The willingness to fight is the spiritual creed of China’s diplomatic corps.”
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times
The council said the CCP has long sought to entice Taiwan’s diplomatic allies to switch recognition to the People’s Republic of China.
The efforts are part of a campaign to constrain Taiwan’s presence on the international stage, the council added.
Such acts undermine peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and are potentially harmful to Taiwanese, it said.
Ma’s bragging about the results of the CCP’s poaching of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies is “irresponsible,” it said, adding that the international community is on heightened alert as Beijing’s approach to diplomacy has become clear.
The Republic of China is a sovereign nation, the council said, adding that neither side of the Strait owes allegiance to the other.
Taiwanese will not adhere to Beijing’s “one China” principle, the council said.
With Beijing being unwilling to commit to a peaceful resolution of what it calls the “Taiwan issue,” Taiwan looks to measures to better protect its sovereignty, it added.
Separately, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chao Tian-lin (趙天麟) said that Ma’s statement would lead to more politicians from other democratic countries voicing support for Taiwan.
Chao, who is on the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, said that China’s “wolf warrior” diplomacy is detrimental to its efforts to improve its international image.
Failed projects under China’s Belt and Road Initiative have created backlash in the affected countries, Chao said, citing the example of Sri Lanka filing for bankruptcy.
Statements such as that by the vice foreign minister have exposed China’s shortcomings, Chao said.
The ongoing CCP congress would go down in history as a low point for the country, Chao said.
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