Beijing disagrees with Ursula von der Leyen’s political agenda, which calls for respecting the status quo in the Taiwan Strait.
advertisementThe re-election of Ursula von der Leyen as European Commission President has already sparked its first international controversy, with China denouncing political guidelines aimed at preventing “gross interference” in the country’s internal affairs during her second term.
“Playing with fire against Taiwan is extremely dangerous,” Wang Rutong, director-general of the European Affairs Department of China’s foreign ministry, said on Friday, a day after the European Commission president won a majority of votes in Strasbourg.
“Interfering or even trying to cooperate is never the right choice for Europe.”
Mr Luton’s accusation refers to a small passage about Ms von der Leyen’s re-election. Manifesto The bill commits her administration to working closely with Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and Australia to address “shared challenges in cyber, space, and the secure supply of critical minerals and technologies.”
“This includes joint efforts to mobilize the two countries’ comprehensive national governance capabilities to prevent China from unilaterally changing the status quo through military means, particularly with regard to Taiwan,” she wrote in the 30-page document.
The remark adds nothing new and merely reiterates von der Leyen’s well-known position that Beijing should refrain from any activity that could forcibly change the decades-long stalemate in the Taiwan Strait, including a military invasion that many fear is inevitable.
But for China, any rhetoric in favor of Taiwan is a red line that no country, ally or foe, should cross.
The People’s Republic of China (PRC) considers Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (RoC), a separate province that needs to be reconciled with mainland China. Taipei rejects this view and says Taiwan, which has spent years building its democratic institutions, de facto Independent nation.
Taiwan’s new president, William LaiLai has proposed resuming bilateral ties but maintains that the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China will never be subordinate to each other. His outspoken views have increased tensions with Beijing, which considers him a “war instigator.”
The EU does not recognise Taiwan and does not have an embassy in Taipei, but the two sides have low-level ties on a range of topics, including renewable energy, security, research, data protection, human rights and, most important to Brussels, semiconductors, a key industry in which Taiwan has a huge advantage.
These ties have strengthened in recent years, in part due to a sharp deterioration in relations between the EU and China, and are expected to expand during von der Leyen’s next term.
in statementTaiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs congratulated the president on his re-election, saying it “expressed gratitude for his high level of support and interest in peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.”
“Looking forward, Taiwan will continue to safeguard the rules-based international order and further cooperate with the European Union to jointly open a new chapter of friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation,” the statement said.
