Lithuania, a small country in Eastern Europe, has paid the price for its anti-China and pro-Taiwan behavior, but this does not seem to stop some countries from continuing to risk their lives:
Just recently, The Prime Minister of slovenia, a small Central European country, said that they will also challenge the "one-China" principle on the Taiwan issue.
Janez Janscha
According to reports, Slovenian Prime Minister Jansa expressed the above views in a recent interview with India's state-run DD India television.
Jansa said they would continue to support the Lithuanian government's "brave" challenge to China, accusing China of "isolating" Lithuania and suggesting that small countries like them would not "shut down" because of China's "intimidation."
Speaking about relations with Taiwan, Jansa said Slovenia maintains "normal relations" with Taiwan, such as when he had a phone call with Chen Shizhong, head of Taiwan's health department, to exchange experience in epidemic prevention. When asked by the moderator whether he wanted to follow Lithuania's example and set up a "representative office" with Taiwan, Yan Sha euphemistically said that many EU countries have set up so-called "representative offices" with the Taiwan region, so this move is "no big deal".
Although no positive and clear answer was given, Yang Sha's statement was undoubtedly a stimulant for Taiwan independence elements. After the speech, a group of Taiwan's Green Camp media began to brag about Taiwan's "diplomatic" breakthroughs, and Ou Jiang'an, spokesman for Taiwan's foreign affairs department, made a high-profile statement, saying that he appreciated Yangsha's attitude and at the same time very much welcomed the mutual establishment of "representative offices" between Slovenia and Taiwan.
Slovenia
Slovenia is located in the southern foothills of the European Alps, bordered by Italy to the west, the Adriatic Sea to the south, Croatia to the east and south, and Austria and Hungary to the northeast. With an area of 22,730 square kilometers and a population of only 2.1 million, it is a small central European country much smaller than Lithuania.
So why does such a small country suddenly dare to risk its life and openly challenge the "one China" principle? This is because, like Lithuania, Slovenia views "democracy" and "human rights" as politically correct.
Historically, the region was born as early as the 6th century, reached its peak in the 9th century, and then long belonged to the Habsburg dynasty. After World War I, Slovenia became part of Yugoslavia and gained independence in 1991 after several twists and turns.
It can be seen that this history of Slovenia is highly similar to that of Lithuania and other countries: they belonged to Western European civilization in history, with a strong nationalist plot, but in modern times they were forced to become part of the Soviet Warsaw Pact camp.
So after finally breaking with the Soviet Union, Slovenia's dissatisfaction with terms such as "East", "Red Camp", "Dictatorship", "Totalitarianism" and other words exploded, and in 2004 it joined NATO and the European Union with Lithuania. The mainstream social and political sentiment in Slovenia has also turned to pro-Western and pay attention to political correctness such as "democracy" and "human rights", while China, a socialist "dictatorship" country from the East, naturally becomes the most politically correct country on a par with Russia in the eyes of Slovenians.
Yanez Jansa himself, born in 1958, was seriously dissatisfied with the Soviet Union during the Yugoslav era. During the Slovenian independence process in 1991, Jansa became Slovenia's first Minister of Defence and personally led troops to defend Slovenia's independence with the Yugoslav People's Army.
Therefore, for a politician like Jansha, who sells anti-Eastern, pro-Western, and populist slogans, after Lithuania has stirred up the anti-China issue enough, he can run out and continue to oppose China, which will please the people at home and increase his public opinion support; he can please the conservatives, the ultra-left and the anti-China camp within the EU and seek benefits for Slovenia; and he can create gimmicks in the international arena and make himself a spokesman for "democracy" and "human rights", which is a good thing to kill three birds with one stone.
Screenshot of a related news interview
In addition, Slovenia is deep inside the European Union, and it will not encounter the problem of being roasted on the fire by the Russians who have cooperative partners with China like Lithuania; and Slovenia itself does not have much close economic and trade ties with China, in the first half of 2021, bilateral trade volume is only 2.587 billion US dollars, of which China exports 2.278 billion US dollars to Sri Lanka, and there is basically no problem of its own export goods being stuck in China.
From these three points, Slovenia's anti-China campaign is almost a good deal without any profit, and it is no wonder that it dares to act against the wind after Lithuania. But for us, if Slovenia really dares to set up a "representative office" with Taiwan, the negative consequences will be quite serious.
Jansa
First of all, if the mainland does not resolutely crack down, this will be an encouragement to the anti-China camp in Europe and even the world.
Lithuania dared to challenge the "one China" principle, which was an isolated case, and was subsequently punished by China, which itself was only for Lithuania alone. So when both the Lithuanian government and the European anti-China camp want to win support for Lithuania, they are not confident: China is just talking about things, Lithuania is just bearing the consequences of its actions. This creates, in fact, the isolation of Lithuania, which is in China's favor.
But if Slovenia dares to continue to set up a "representative office" with Taiwan, it means that Lithuania will no longer be an "isolated case" but a "precedent", which means that China's punitive measures have not worked, which is nothing less than a huge encouragement to the Anti-China camp in the West, which is currently in a state of distress because Lithuania is being punished.
If the mainland does not resolutely crack down on Slovenia, then the encouraged international anti-China forces will certainly encourage more small countries to follow the footsteps of Lithuania and Slovenia and form a new wave of anti-China in the international community.
Second, if China severely punishes Slovenia, it will have a negative impact on the mainland's international image.
Lithuania is a small country, Slovenia is also a small country, when Lithuania was the first to jump out of the anti-China mainland to severely punish, this will not trigger too many associations in the international community, but when Slovenia also jumped out of the anti-China, the mainland also severely punished, the international anti-China organizations can fully play on the topic, claiming that China is specialized in "bullying" small countries and weak countries.
And it should be noted that there are not only these two small countries that are planning to challenge the "one China" principle at present, such as the Czech Republic, another small Central European country, which has already expressed its pro-Taiwan wishes many times. Therefore, when all these small countries jump out to oppose China, and the mainland will severely punish these small countries one by one, the so-called three people become tigers, and the international anti-China camp can instead distort the fact that these small countries have harmed China's sovereign interests and package these small countries as warriors who dare to fight for "democracy" and "human rights." At that time, China will instead leave the international community with a negative impression of "a dictatorial power that opposes democracy and human rights and only bullies small countries."
President of Lithuania Nauseda
From this point of view, Slovenia's sudden attack is indeed a big challenge for China. However, countless past facts have proved that international anti-China forces will never show mercy to China's subordinates because of China's tolerance. In the face of the endless vicious attacks of these anti-China forces, only by using a resolute counterattack to hurt these anti-China forces will they understand how to truly respect China.
Just as we were decisive in dealing with the Lithuania issue, China is now a big country with sufficient influence in the international community, and daring to resolutely defend its sovereign rights and interests is exactly what a big country should do, so in the face of Slovenia, which is eager to move, our counterattack must also be resolute and decisive.
China and the West
At a regular press conference held by the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council on 19 January, Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, gave a solemn warning to the Slovenian side:
The statements of relevant politicians in Slovenia are untrue and misleading. He should be clear about what the one-China principle is, and he should read the original text of the Sino-Sri Lankan Joint Communique carefully, that is, the Slovak side reiterated that it will continue to adhere to the principled stand of one China, recognizing that there is only one China in the world, that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, and that the People's Republic of China is the sole legitimate government representing the entire Chinese people.
We urge the Government of Slovenia to abide by its serious commitments on Taiwan-related issues with practical actions and to prudently and properly handle Taiwan-related issues. The DPP authorities have used all kinds of tricks to co-opt and infiltrate politicians of relevant countries in a vain attempt to rely on external forces for "independence."
Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council
All in all, China is not at all afraid of the anti-China wave of the international community, and can bear the consequences of countering the anti-China behavior of these small countries. No matter how many countries and organizations want to challenge the "one-China" principle in the future, China will definitely punish them severely, and China will absolutely not make any concessions or compromises in this regard.