Embassy: Polish TV show on Taiwan ‘personal behavior’

The Polish Embassy in Beijing on Tuesday said an alleged Polish TV show on YouTube supporting “Taiwan independence” was “personal behavior,” stressing that Poland has always asserted the one-China principle.

An online Polish TV channel broadcast an open declaration of support for “Taiwan independence,” the Taiwan News reported on Tuesday. Two hosts talking in Chinese and English announced that as 2018 is Poland’s 100th year of independence, the Polish people support Taiwan and encourage the island to declare “independence,” the report said.

The report said the show can be viewed on YouTube channel Idz Pod Prad, which roughly translates as “go against the current.”

But in a statement sent to the Global Times on Tuesday, the embassy said that “Poland established diplomatic relations with China in October 1949, one of the earliest countries to establish relations. Since then, Poland has always supported the oneChina principle.”

The embassy said the video was the act of an individual YouTube user and refused to make further comment.

The Global Times found the video account was not affiliated to any Polish TV channel. It was established by far-right media organization Idz Pod Prad.

Idz Pod Prad has been described as “preying on the vulnerable,” the Guardian reported in January.

Some Taiwan net users criticized the video on social media, commenting “This video cannot represent either the public or official aspect of Taiwan. They just do not hope to see peaceful cross-Straits relations,” news site haiwainet.cn reported.