There is no question about Taiwan’s status today. Only an authoritarian regime’s denial of a reality its ideology finds inconvenient.
[Op-ed by Roy Chun Lee, Taiwan’s Ambassador to the EU and Belgium.]
[…]
Over the past 130 years, the people of Taiwan have cultivated a unique identity with a multicultural heritage, drawing not only from Chinese influences but also from the Dutch, Spanish, Japanese, and Taiwan’s indigenous peoples, who are widely regarded to be the origin of all Austronesian cultures. Like the identity-building process of most European countries, Taiwan’s journey has been a mixture of darkness and light, suffering and joy, struggle and triumph.
Yet these elements are exactly what make the Taiwanese identity unique and render it a special, like-minded partner to Europe and the world, with or without formal diplomatic recognition.
[…]
Unfortunately, instead of applauding Taiwan, the PRC has continually employed every available method to deny the existence of Taiwan. One of the most frequently used tools is to distort the meaning of UN Resolution 2758, arguing that the Resolution reflects a global consensus that Taiwan is part of the PRC.
This is fake news. The following is a direct quotation from a speech delivered by European Commissioner Nicolas Schmit, on behalf of EU High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell in October 2024: “United Nations Resolution 2758 is very short - only 150 words. And among those 150 words, the word ‘Taiwan’ does not appear. The resolution switched representation in the United Nations from the ‘representatives of Chiang Kai-shek’ to the ‘representatives of the Government of the People’s Republic of China’”.
In short, Resolution 2758 provides no legal basis for the PRC to claim ownership of Taiwan or to deny the fact that Taiwan has existed as a sovereign, independent, and meaningful country for the last 75 years.
[…]
Europe can help deter coercion in the Taiwan Strait.
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First, face the facts: Taiwan is a democracy whose sovereignty is exercised and enjoyed every day by its 23 million people. No amount of propaganda can erase that reality.
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Second, expose and resist coercion: Call out and reject the PRC’s disinformation campaigns, economic blackmail, and military intimidation whenever and wherever they appear.
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And third, invest in partnership: Expand trade, technology, security dialogues, and cultural exchanges with Taiwan, so that shared values can become shared resilience.
[…]
At least in Germany, the consensus is, that they support a peaceful reunification.
Been to Germany many times. There is no such consensus about reunification.
Hey, I am talking about the political stance of the government. Not whaf people might think.
https://www.zeit.de/politik/ausland/2023-04/taiwan-annalena-baerbock-china-eskalation-wang-yi
You:
Translation of your quote:
That alone basically says the political stance is multi-faceted and nowhere near a “consensus”.
The article states that China demands support for re-unification with China, and Germany warns China against attacking Taiwan.
Yes, the sentence you quoted is in the article, but it’s not central to it, and all the rest of it opposes your claims.
Thank you for clarefying. See my other comment, why I think germany would not oppose a peaceful reunification.
Peaceful being the operative word. If Taiwan democratically elects to join the PRC then yes, Germany would accept that. If China invades and holds a Russia style “referendum” then no, Germany would not consider that legitimate. Only one of those is a likely scenario, and it’s not the first one.
Remains to be seen
No. That’s not true.
Read my other comment. The Bundesregierung accepts the one china policy.
Your comments are (intentionally?) misleading. The German government does not accept reunification, let alone by force.
Not intentonally. It is how I understood germanys stance. To me it sounds like they would not oppose a peaceful reunification. But as it have been pointed out, there is room for interpretation. Germany seems to not hold diplomatic relationships with Taiwan, so it seems to me, that if PRC tries to reunify Taiwan with itself, as long as it is peaceful (however that is possible), the curreny Government would not put sanctions on PRC, because of course that would be even stupider than applying sanctions on russian gas for the economy of germany. Please understand that I do not approve of russian doings, and do not mind the higher gas price, but it seriouly did hurt the economy, which is itself stagnating right now. How I assune Friddrich Merz positions, he would not allow it to be damaged even further. At the end, germany would accept more or less willingly, a peaceful reunification.
Please refer to page 13 for germanys stance on the one china policy.
https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/resource/blob/2608578/810fdade376b1467f20bdb697b2acd58/china-strategie-data.pdf
@g7s@feddit.org
Your entire behaviour and line of argumentation in this thread is almost hilarious. You are frequently relativizing and sometimes completely retracting your own arguments after they have proven wrong, and now you are posting a document to ‘refer to Germany’s stance’. What a waste of time.
Nothing has been proven wrong here buddy. Admiting being wrong is a strengh btw. Yeah, I linked a document. Have you read it?
That’s diplomacy