Straight News: What observations and reflections did you have on the remarks made by the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the approval by the Lithuanian authorities of the Establishment of the so-called "Taiwan Representative Office in Lithuania"?
Special Commentator Liu Heping: I have noticed that the Foreign Ministry's statement this time is no longer a general principled statement, but is extremely strong and fierce in wording. I believe that the reason why the Chinese side reacted extremely fiercely is that this is the first public breakthrough in the one-China principle between the Tsai Ing-wen administration, in collusion with the Lithuanian government, on the issue of Taiwan's name and political positioning at the foreign and international levels.
As we know, the name of the country where the Taiwan region has established diplomatic relations with Chinese mainland is generally "Taipei's economic, trade and cultural representative office in a certain country." At present, the so-called "representative office in Lithuania and Taiwan" is not only out of line with the "one China" framework, but also violates the basic laws and systems in force on the island.
It is noteworthy that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs not only condemned the extremely bad nature of Lithuania's move, but also stated that it would take all necessary measures, and that the cube was responsible for all the consequences arising therefrom. This means that the Chinese side may take more drastic countermeasures than recalling the ambassador to Lithuania. Let's wait and see!
Straight News: Hong Kong's South China Morning Post reported that the European Union has postponed a confidential plan to boost economic and trade ties with Taiwan. How do you interpret this?
Special Commentator Liu Heping: In fact, since Both Taiwan and the EU are open economies and are both WTO members, there are no institutional obstacles to economic and trade exchanges between them. In other words, the economic and trade relations between Taiwan and the EU are actually "nameless and real." Under such circumstances, the Tsai Ing-wen authorities are seeking to sign the so-called "Taiwan-EU Investment Agreement" with the EU, not on the economy, but on breaking through the "one China" principle and having so-called official relations with the EU.
It is precisely for this reason that we have seen that Ambassador Zhang Ming, head of the Chinese Mission to the European Union, has made two heavy remarks, one is that the one-China principle is the premise and political foundation for establishing diplomatic relations and cooperation between China and the EU, the foundation is not solid, and the ground is shaking; second, it seems that some people in Europe have underestimated the will of the Chinese people to achieve national reunification. I think all the discerning people can weigh the weight behind these two sentences, which means that if the EU really wants to do this, it is difficult to predict what will happen next in the Eu-China relationship.
Then, the EU's act of temporarily emergency braking on the so-called "Taiwan-EU Investment Agreement" has also revealed several signals: First, China's warning to the EU has had a substantial effect; second, it shows that the EU still takes into account Sino-European relations, especially the economic interests between China and The EU; third, it shows that on the Taiwan issue, there is still a force within the EU that can restrain radical forces, including the European Parliament.
The author 丨 Liu Heping, special commentator of Shenzhen Satellite TV's "Live Broadcasting hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan"
Typography 丨 Ye Junyan