Taiwan’s (Republic of China) Vice President-elect Hsiao Bi-khim visited the United States and Europe in “a personal capacity” this week, including visiting the Czech Republic. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) expressed anger over the visit.
President of the Senate of the Czech Republic Miloš Vystrčil posted a photo of himself with Ms. Hsiao on social media on March 19. In response, the CCP’s Taiwan Affairs Office stated on March 20 that it urged the Czech Republic to handle the Taiwan issue prudently and properly and not to send wrong signals to the “Taiwan independence” separatist forces.
Vice President-elect Hsiao and President-elect William Lai of the Republic of China (Taiwan) will be sworn in on May 20.
On March 20, Joseph Wu, foreign minister of the Republic of China, held a press briefing before giving a report at the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee of the Legislative Yuans. When the media asked about the CCP’s discontent over Ms. Hsiao’s visit to the Czech Republic, Mr. Wu said that the CCP’s protests are invalid. Vice President-elect Hsiao was invited by some European think tanks to give a speech and she also went to Europe to see some friends.
Mr. Wu said: “Whether I go to Europe or our friends in Europe come to Taiwan, or Vice President-elect Hsiao goes to Europe, China will always protest. Many people feel that China keeps protesting on various issues, and it seems that it is a bit abnormal if China [does] not protest.”
He said that some American friends kept telling him, “If China is angry, it seems that we have done the right thing.” Mr. Wu added that currently Vice President-elect Hsiao still has a certain degree of freedom before officially taking office. If friends invite her to visit, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can make relevant arrangements.
Mr. Vystrčil led a delegation of nearly 90 people to visit Taiwan at the end of August 2020. Mr. Vystrčil was also invited to give a speech at Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan. At the end of his speech, he expressed support for Taiwan by saying “I am a Taiwanese” in Chinese. This sentence is modeled after the famous saying of former U.S. President J.F. Kennedy “I am a Berliner” to express the importance of democracy during the Cold War between the free democracies and the communist bloc. The two camps were separated by the Berlin Wall. You Si-kun, then-legislative president of the Republic of China, said in his speech that despite the coercion and inducement of the CCP’s diplomacy, Mr. Vystrčil insisted on defending the country’s sovereignty and dignity and bravely led a delegation to visit Taiwan. He also praised Mr. Vystrčil as “a great statesman of a great country.”
Mr. Wu stated in his report to the Legislative Yuan: The risks of global geopolitical conflicts are constant, especially the continued expansion of authoritarianism. The CCP has intensified its suppression of Taiwan, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is facing more variables in promoting its diplomatic work. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs continues to deepen and expand cooperation with democratic partners with similar concepts and strives to expand diplomatic space. The Ministry will continue to practice the concept of “pragmatic diplomacy” step by step, making “Taiwan” not only a keyword in international politics but also maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as an international consensus. Democratic partners such as the United States, Japan, and Europe have increased their support for Taiwan.
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron stated on March 21, “There’s no doubt that were there to be something like a blockade it would have an absolutely calamitous effect, not just on Taiwan, but on the global economy.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China (Taiwan) stated on March 22 that it welcomed Mr. Cameron’s concern for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and that Taiwan will continue to cooperate with the UK and other like-minded partners.
