Report both irresponsible and ridiculous

The European Parliament is flouting the international consensus on the Taiwan question. In its foreign and security policy report it says that, “Neither Taiwan nor China is subordinate to the other” and “only Taiwan’s democratically elected government can represent the Taiwanese people on the international stage”.

Its wording is problematic in the first place. It is an international consensus that there is only one China and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China of which the government in Beijing is the sole legal representative. The wording of the report constitutes an infringement on China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The report has seriously interfered with the internal affairs of China by calling on the European Commission and member states of the European Union to support Taiwan’s “meaningful participation” in international organizations, despite it being recognized in international law the island has no ground, reason or right to do so.

When establishing diplomatic relations with China in 1975, the forerunner of the European Union explicitly committed to adopting the position on the Taiwan question that there is only one China, with Taiwan being an inalienable part of China. The EU also committed to refraining from maintaining any official relations or entering into any official agreements with Taiwan.

What the European Parliament has done by including such irresponsible statements in its report about Taiwan is a walking back on the commitment the EU has made. It is also a slap in the face of the reality that all EU countries have diplomatic relations with Beijing that are based on the one-China principle.

China-EU relations have developed well in the past two decades since they established their comprehensive strategic partnership. Whatever reason there is behind its audacious and provocative statements, the report will have a negative impact on the relations between the EU and China.

There is enough reason for those in China and Europe who cherish EU-China relations and hope for better bilateral ties to worry that some politicians in the European Parliament may get carried away by their deeply entrenched Cold War mentality and do things that may erode the foundation of EU-China relations. Some of them may be instigated by Washington to challenge China on the question of Taiwan.

But what they should never forget is that it is EU countries that will suffer if relations with China are made to decline. The Chinese mainland has the strength and resolve to deal with any challenge to the island’s reunification with its motherland, and it will not change its commitment to that cause.