Media: China pressures European states to ban entry for Taiwanese officials

Chinese authorities are exerting diplomatic pressure on a number of European countries, seeking to ban the entry of Taiwanese officials.

Beijing emphasises that such visits constitute a “red line” for China and could negatively affect relations with the European Union, The Guardian reports, citing informed diplomats and officials.

According to the sources, the Chinese side has delivered diplomatic démarches both to European embassies in Beijing and directly to governments in European capitals, warning against what it describes as “trampling on China’s red lines.”

The approaches reportedly took various forms, ranging from written diplomatic notes to face-to-face meetings, and were addressed both to individual countries and to groups of states. The increased diplomatic activity occurred in November–December and followed recent visits to Europe by Taiwan’s incumbent vice president and foreign minister, as well as a former president of the island.

Beijing says it formally respects the sovereignty of European countries in matters of visa policy but points to what it calls “institutional loopholes” that allow Taiwanese politicians to visit Europe frequently. Chinese officials have specifically referred to the Schengen Code, arguing that such visits could be viewed as a threat to EU member states’ international relations with China.

In some cases, references were also made to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, or European countries were encouraged to follow the example of the United Nations and bar all Taiwanese representatives from government buildings.

Countries where visits by Taiwanese officials were discussed reportedly include Belgium, the Czech Republic, Poland, the Netherlands, Italy, Austria, Germany, Lithuania, Denmark, Estonia, and Ireland. The foreign ministries of Norway and Finland have already confirmed receiving such “advice” from China.

Earlier, Lithuania also stressed that it does not intend to comply with China’s demands regarding the Taiwanese representative office in Vilnius.

By Khagan Isayev