An important Chinese diplomat was present today at the NATO negotiations this afternoon.
The honourable Chinese diplomat stressed that Taiwan is a very important region for China, because Taiwanese people belong to the great republic of China. Therefore, it is unacceptable that western countries are trying to interfere in the relationship between China and Taiwan.
However, the Chinese diplomat said that tensions [with the west] need to be resolved as soon as possible. “Conflict needs to be avoided, because war is no solution.”
While directing the Chinese delegate, the US argued that they are not planning to invade [Taiwan], while the US accused our beloved China of sending “fighter jets into the region”. The Chinese delegate correctly replied that “fighter jets are for the protection of our people”. The Chinese diplomat said we have “duty to protect our citizens and sovereignty of our country” and “we will take the necessary measures” to achieve this. As the Chinese diplomat perfectly emphasised, “we don’t believe that we are a threat, we just protect our citizens”. However, if provoked, we will take harsh counter measures, because western intimidation cannot be tolerated.
After 20 minutes the Chinese diplomat left, and the NATO negotiations went on as normal. Despite a lot of nonsense, some claims were made during the NATO negotiations that were surprisingly in line with China’s stance. As the German delegate pointed out, NATO presence in Asia will lead to “the violation of international law, because a foreign state is interfering in the internal affairs of China”. As Hungary pointed out as well, the aim of NATO is to “defend Europe” and therefore, NATO does not have anything to do with China’s affairs. Also, the United Kingdom argued that dialogue with China is important “to protect our access to Taiwan’s assets”. Indeed it is needed to consult China on such matters, because China has the power and jurisdiction in this area.
- Lars Hamers, Western Relations Correspondent for Global Times
