China’s punitive campaign against Lithuania is “unjustified” and “disproportionate,” and Vilnius allowing Taiwan to set up a representative office in the country does not breach the EU’s “one China” policy, senior leaders of the bloc wrote in an open letter on Thursday.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel vowed to “push back” against “threats, political pressure and coercive measures” aimed at any of the bloc’s member states.
Beijing had objected to Lithuania allowing the office to use the name “Taiwanese Representative Office,” rather than a name using “Taipei,” as is common for Taiwan’s representative offices abroad.
Photo: AFP
Beijing said that the name implied that Taiwan is a sovereign nation.
After Vilnius declined to request a name change, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in August requested that Lithuania withdraw its ambassador from Beijing and recalled its own envoy from Vilnius.
Von der Leyen and Michel said that the naming of the representative office does not constitute a breach of the EU’s “one China” policy, and that the EU and its members have the right to deepen their ties and cooperation with Taiwan.
The two EU leaders added that they were in contact with Chinese officials to de-escalate tensions over the issue.
Von der Leyen and Michel’s letter came in response to a letter from the Formosa Club, a group of cross-party EU and Canadian legislators seeking to promote closer ties with Taiwan.
The group’s letter, sent two months ago, called for “a far stronger response” from the EU to the Lithuania-China rift.
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday thanked the EU leaders in a statement, saying that the EU and the Formosa Club supporting the development of ties between Taiwan and Lithuania would also contribute to deeper partnerships with other EU nations.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
THUGGISH BEHAVIOR: Encouraging people to report independence supporters is another intimidation tactic that threatens cross-strait peace, the state department said China setting up an online system for reporting “Taiwanese independence” advocates is an “irresponsible and reprehensible” act, a US government spokesperson said on Friday. “China’s call for private individuals to report on alleged ‘persecution or suppression’ by supposed ‘Taiwan independence henchmen and accomplices’ is irresponsible and reprehensible,” an unnamed US Department of State spokesperson told the Central News Agency in an e-mail. The move is part of Beijing’s “intimidation campaign” against Taiwan and its supporters, and is “threatening free speech around the world, destabilizing the Indo-Pacific region, and deliberately eroding the cross-strait status quo,” the spokesperson said. The Chinese Communist Party’s “threats
RSS