HK/MACAO/TAIWAN
'You crossed the line,' Chinese Foreign Minister warns Czech official's visit to Taiwan island
Published: Sep 02, 2020 12:44 AM

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi File photo: Xinhua



Ignoring opposition of China and the Czech government, Czech Senate Speaker Milos Vystrcil insisted on visiting the island of Taiwan, instigating secessionist forces, a blatant provocation that "crossed the line," Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at a press conference with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.

The visit is an act that severely interferes in China's internal affairs, and China has to take a necessary response, Wang said. There is only one China in the world and the island of Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory, which is the shared consensus of the international community, Wang noted.

"China has to tell the Czech senate president: 'You crossed the line,'" Wang said. Such an act of supporting Taiwan secessionism and instigating other countries to follow is a blatant provocation, he noted.

China has summoned the Czech ambassador to China to protest the Czech senate speaker's visit to Taiwan, while Wang during his ongoing visit to Europe made a rare, strongly worded response to the speaker's act, sending a strong message to other European countries that playing tricks with Taiwan island will incur a heavy price, observers say.

Shortly after the Chinese foreign minister said on Monday that anyone who challenges the one-China principle over the Taiwan question would make an enemy of 1.4 billion Chinese people and is a violation of international trust and conduct, he reiterated that insisting on the one-China principle is the political foundation of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and the Czech Republic, a political commitment that local officials must follow.

Wang has delivered severe condemnations on Vystrcil's visit to Taiwan two days in a row.

Vystrcil's visit is a public harm to China's core interests. It obviously went against most countries who agree with the one-China principle and common consensus of the international society, Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations of the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

The visit would bring a very bad result, as some anti-China forces in Western countries might follow Vystrcil's example to seize for their political gain and some innocent people would be misled, Li said. 

But Vystrcil has overrated his power. The relations between China and European countries will only be strengthened. China-Europe ties have their own rhythm which would not be affected by a speculator, Li said.