6d ago

Taiwan's Ambassador to the EU: "Taiwan has never been part of the People’s Republic of China"

www.euractiv.com

Taiwan has never been part of the People's Republic of China

There is no question about Taiwan’s status today. Only an authoritarian regime’s denial of a reality its ideology finds inconvenient.

[Op-ed by Roy Chun Lee, Taiwan's Ambassador to the EU and Belgium.]

Archived

[...]

Over the past 130 years, the people of Taiwan have cultivated a unique identity with a multicultural heritage, drawing not only from Chinese influences but also from the Dutch, Spanish, Japanese, and Taiwan's indigenous peoples, who are widely regarded to be the origin of all Austronesian cultures. Like the identity-building process of most European countries, Taiwan's journey has been a mixture of darkness and light, suffering and joy, struggle and triumph.

Yet these elements are exactly what make the Taiwanese identity unique and render it a special, like-minded partner to Europe and the world, with or without formal diplomatic recognition.

[...]

Unfortunately, instead of applauding Taiwan, the PRC has continually employed every available method to deny the existence of Taiwan. One of the most frequently used tools is to distort the meaning of UN Resolution 2758, arguing that the Resolution reflects a global consensus that Taiwan is part of the PRC.

This is fake news. The following is a direct quotation from a speech delivered by European Commissioner Nicolas Schmit, on behalf of EU High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell in October 2024: “United Nations Resolution 2758 is very short - only 150 words. And among those 150 words, the word ‘Taiwan’ does not appear. The resolution switched representation in the United Nations from the ‘representatives of Chiang Kai-shek’ to the ‘representatives of the Government of the People’s Republic of China’”.

In short, Resolution 2758 provides no legal basis for the PRC to claim ownership of Taiwan or to deny the fact that Taiwan has existed as a sovereign, independent, and meaningful country for the last 75 years.

[...]

Europe can help deter coercion in the Taiwan Strait.

First, face the facts: Taiwan is a democracy whose sovereignty is exercised and enjoyed every day by its 23 million people. No amount of propaganda can erase that reality.
Second, expose and resist coercion: Call out and reject the PRC’s disinformation campaigns, economic blackmail, and military intimidation whenever and wherever they appear.
And third, invest in partnership: Expand trade, technology, security dialogues, and cultural exchanges with Taiwan, so that shared values can become shared resilience.

[...]

China @sopuli.xyz

Hotznplotzn @lemmy.sdf.org

6d ago

Taiwan's Ambassador to the EU: "Taiwan has never been part of the People’s Republic of China"

www.euractiv.com /section/politics/opinion/taiwan-has-never-been-part-of-the-peoples-republic-of-china/

World News @quokk.au

Hotznplotzn @lemmy.sdf.org

6d ago

Taiwan's Ambassador to the EU: "Taiwan has never been part of the People’s Republic of China"

www.euractiv.com /section/politics/opinion/taiwan-has-never-been-part-of-the-peoples-republic-of-china/

Europa / Europe and the EU + EEA @lemmy.world

Hotznplotzn @lemmy.sdf.org

6d ago

Taiwan's Ambassador to the EU: "Taiwan has never been part of the People’s Republic of China"

www.euractiv.com /section/politics/opinion/taiwan-has-never-been-part-of-the-peoples-republic-of-china/

82 comments

Went to Taiwan many times. Can confirm it's not China.
- They speak mandarin. Taiwan of course has a unique culture, just like Sichuan. Still Sichuan is PRC, so will be Taiwan again. After all, the Kuomintang fled to Taiwan aftet defeat. The Kuomintang were chinese.
  
  They speak mandarin
  So China will be part of Taiwan then?
  And Xinjiang and Tibet will become independent countries then, as they speak Uyghur and Tibetic languages rather than Mandarin? Right?
  
  What are you gonna say next, Republic of Ireland is part of UK? They speak English.
  Oh, how about, the whole South America is Mexico? Wait, is Spain Mexico too?
  
  The ROI is not United Kingdom.
  Austria is not Germany.
  Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark are separate countries;
  as are Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka;
  as are a number of Arab-speaking countries;
  and ROC is not PRC.
  The PRC is a Borg ship trying to assimilate the ROC, but the ROC has resisted assimilation for over 75 years.
  
  We speak Mandarin. So did Japan before they became an independent country. So did South Korea. So your argument is flawed. In 1997, we voted in our first president. Something Sichuan didn't do. Since then, the people of Taiwan decided the type of government we wanted. Something Sichuan didn't do. We created a healthcare system that is for the people. Something Sichuan didn't do.
  In 2024, there was a 72% voter turn out. We are currently recalling a handful of KMT lawmakers to switch them into the DPP.
  The Taiwanese government is the original China. The PRC is just a bunch of rebels that took over the land where China used to occupy and didn't change the name. You guys went from one dictator (Chiang Kai-shek,) to another director (Xi Ping).
  
  There are Russian speaking communities around the world - so the world must all be Russia.
  
  Ok but they dont want to be Chinese. Conquering a people who don't want to be a part of your country is a dick move and shouldn't be endorsed by the international community.
  Your argument bears little difference to if the UK were to posture militarily at Canada and say that Canada will be British again
  
  Cope.
Looking at the comments: sheesh. TIL that the PRC's Troll army is here, too.
- Lemmy is full of tankies.
  
  Some instances, sure. Recently I learned that .ml stands for marxist-leninist.
- Always has been
- If it wasn't more noticeable before, that is because everyone's attention has been elsewhere post-COVID, so this stuff never came up for the 50-cent-army to pick up.
- I think I've started to just outright ignore comments from big servers, trolls everywhere
  
  big servers
  But how do you define that? Is my instance "big"? Is yours not?
  Couldn't that be a fallacy anyhow? More users overall probably also means more trolls.
Currently live in Taiwan. Can confirm. We are not China.
Before a tankie comes in propagandising the 1992 consensus that says "there is one China, our China", by which China means PRC (People's Republic of China) and Taiwan's ruling party KMT meant RoC (Republic of China), let me add some detail:
After effectively losing the Chinese civil war in 1949 by retreating to Taiwan, RoC martial law era ruling party KMT first threatened to retake China until 1991, and then diluted the plan into “reunification” and cosied up with China. Last time KMT said "one China" was in the 1992 consensus, at the end of martial law. Taiwanese people never agreed with KMT’s hubris or sucking-up, which shows in voting results since the martial law ended.
Now Taiwan is stuck with the official stance of "one China" because China’s (PRC) Anti-secession law of 2005 promises war if Taiwan changes its name from the old “Republic of China” (since 1911 in China, since 1945 on Taiwan) to “Republic of Taiwan”. They missed a chance to become officially Taiwan the country. Most parties in Taiwan support "status quo", "don't rock the boat".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Taiwan#Current_political_issues
- Now Taiwan is stuck with the official stance of "one China" because China’s (PRC) Anti-secession law of 2005 promises war if Taiwan changes its name
  Except they're not stuck with anything, since that PRC law has no jurisdiction over them, being a separate sovereign country. It's just a threat.
  
  Just a credible threat.
  
  This is absolutely correct... but it is as much worth as saying the US has no jurisdiction over you if some US spook think you are an terrorist and living somewhere in Pakistan...
  
  It's just a threat
  Yes that's the issue with the law
- We are currently in a recall election right now, outing a handful of KMT lawmakers, to replace the DPP.
Yes, but we have to pretend it might be, otherwise China won't sell us billions of tons of plastic tat.
I think the PRC should be amalgamated as Western Taiwan.
I know that one is (was) 100k people, and the other is (still) 23mln people, but this has the "Artsakh has never been part of independent Azerbaijan" vibes.
"The world" doesn't care for such arguments, only for who is tastier when killed and meat shared.
There are many Chinese singing and talent competitions. Many Taiwanese will participate and naming their place of origin as "Taiwan province."
It is eye opening.
- Most of these talent shows, esp the international ones, want to be able to broadcast into China. So for them to do so, they have to abide by the PRC rules. The talent that are singing are not famous enough in Taiwan and is willing to give up their country for a 1 min of fam.
- What a stupid fucking hill to die on.
Taiwan’s indigenous peoples, who are widely regarded to be the origin of all Austronesian cultures.
What happens if they decolonialize and hand over control to the indigenous people and stay there with refugee status?
- So you want the indigenous population to run an ethnic supremacist island with an underclass of Han Chinese?
  Can't imagine what Xi would do with that excuse.
  Maybe they should just stay a democracy.
  
  If he can't use that excuse because they don't turn it into a supremacist country, would it still be a bad idea? Taiwan could become a better South Africa. China would be compelled to accept it from their dedication to BRICS.
- and stay there with refugee status
  Uh... that's not what refugee means.
  
  What does it mean and what have I implied?
- Why should they?
  
  They could, if it ends the conflict with China and prevents war.
  They also could to make up for their colonial past, or for whatever other reason there could be.
  Before clarifying if they should it should be clarified what will happen. E.g. if China takes it as a reason for war, there is no need to think any further.

82 comments