“We hope that the Vancouver city government will handle Taiwan-related matters prudently and appropriately,” says the Chinese Consulate in Vancouver.
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A Taiwanese government official in Vancouver responded to China for what she called Beijing’s “unreasonable” intrusion into a proposed partnership between Vancouver and a city in Taiwan.
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Earlier this week, the Chinese Consulate General in Vancouver issued a public warning, stating that it “strongly opposed” a proposal for a “city of friendship” relationship between Vancouver and the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung.
The Chinese government’s statement followed a meeting a week earlier between Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart and members of the Metro Vancouver Taiwanese community, in which the city of friendship proposal was discussed.
Beijing’s authoritarian government views Taiwan as part of its territory, even though the Chinese Communist Party has never ruled the island. Under Canada’s “One China” policy, Canada does not recognize Taiwan as a sovereign state or maintain official relations with it.
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Angel Liu, director general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Vancouver, which represents the Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told Postmedia News on Friday that the consulate’s public warning was “unreasonable” and “not acceptable.”
“It is just a repetition of what the Chinese Communist Party government usually does with Taiwan’s international commitment. It is not acceptable at all. We will continue to befriend cities internationally, on many important issues such as climate change, green energy, technology, any kind of city-to-city commitment that is meaningful to both our cities and our countries, ”Liu said. “Taiwan is a sovereign nation and we were never part of the People’s Republic” of China.
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The Chinese consulate in Vancouver did not make anyone available for an interview on Friday, but referred Postmedia News to public statement on your website , which says: “There is only one China in the world. The Taiwan region is an inalienable part of the Chinese territory. … No official interaction with the Taiwanese authorities is in any way an inherent requirement of the one-China principle. “
“If the city of Vancouver establishes Sister City or Friendship City with the cities of the Taiwan region through official authorization, approval of the City Council or exchange of official documents, this will be an official exchange and official mechanism. Therefore, we strongly oppose any official link in any form between the city of Vancouver and the cities of the Taiwan region. “
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The statement concludes: “We hope that the Vancouver city government will handle the problems related to Taiwan in a prudent and appropriate manner.”
In September, the Vancouver council approved a motion by Stewart to establish a “Friendship City Program” to help strengthen “cultural and business relationships around the world.”
Stewart was not available for an interview on Friday. Its communications director, Alvin Singh, said in a message that city staff are still working to implement the friendly cities program.
“The friendly cities program is meant to be community-led,” Singh said. “Right now, we don’t have any applications. But if one came, it would have to be voted on by the council. “
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Carol Pan, co-president of the Metro Vancouver Overseas Taiwanese Association, said she attended a roundtable meeting on November 5 with Stewart and about 40 members of the Taiwanese community. Pan said the meeting went well and said that Stewart said he would be happy to see Kaohsiung partner with Vancouver as a friendly city, and commented on the shared values of democracy and freedom from Taiwan and Canada.
Kaohsiung is the second largest city in Taiwan and one of the largest deep-water ports in Asia.
Reached on Friday, Pan said: “The entire Canadian Taiwanese community, across Canada, is truly on a war footing … because of this statement from the Chinese Consulate in Vancouver.”
“China wants to intimidate people. … They are so aggressive, “said Pan.” They just want to threaten, they just want to intimidate. “
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The Globe and Mail reported Thursday that David Mulroney, who previously served as Canadian ambassador to China and envoy to Taiwan, said that “criticism from the consulate represents an ‘escalation of China’ that if Canada heeded it would encourage Beijing to relentlessly try to restrict what Canadians can do in Taiwan. “
In April, Stewart said he had suspended all contact with Chinese government officials, including refusing to receive an invitation to meet with China’s ambassador to Canada. Stewart, a former NDP MP, said Glacier Media The move was in response to recently announced sanctions against Canadian politicians, including his friend and Conservative MP Michael Chong, which he called “intimidation.”
There has been no change since April in the suspension of Stewart’s contacts with Chinese government officials, Singh said on Friday.
Reference-vancouversun.com