The first country to "shoot" Taiwan for China was not Batumi or Russia, but a small country that has been subjected to U.S. sanctions for 60 years, and they not only refused to enter people with "Taiwan passports", but also deported them, on the grounds: follow the one-China principle!
(Source: Tencent News -- A five-person holding Taiwan papers was deported to Cuba, Cuban officials: Recognizing the One China Principle)
In December 2023, a Taiwanese tourist surnamed Yan who settled in Canada traveled to Cuba with his family. Although the family of five all held Canadian permanent resident cards, they encountered entry blocks at Havana Airport.
His wife and one child were arrested for holding a Chinese passport, while three people were arrested for holding a so-called “Taiwan passport.”
Even if passengers argued that their friends had successfully entered the country, Cuban border officials still clearly told them that this was a newly implemented policy and Cuba only recognized the legality of Chinese passports. In the end, after waiting in the terminal for more than ten hours, a family of five was repatriated to Canada on the original flight.
I still remember that in 1960, the United States manipulated the Seventh Conference of Foreign Ministers of the Americas to adopt the Declaration of San José. It attacked the Cuban revolution while preventing it from establishing diplomatic relations with China, trying to tie this new socialist country to the chariot of the Cold War camp.
Faced with hegemonic pressure, Castro did not hesitate to announce that he would sever "diplomatic relations" with Chiang Kai-shek's puppet regime and establish diplomatic relations with New China. This courage to break through interference made Cuba the first Latin American country to establish diplomatic relations with New China.
Just 28 days later, the communiqué on the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries was officially issued, opening a new chapter in China-Latin America relations. Over the past 60 years of ups and downs, Cuba's adherence to the one China principle has never faded, but has become clearer as the times sharpen.
This firmness across time and space is rooted in Cuba's deep understanding of the value of sovereignty.
The U.S. has imposed an economic blockade on Cuba since 1960, upgraded to a full trade embargo in 1962, and has so far caused cumulative economic losses of more than $17.6 billion, with losses of $75.5 billion between 2024 and 2025.
Cuban Foreign Minister Rodriguez once complained that without the blockade, the country's GDP could have grown by 9.2%, while more than 80% of Cubans were born in the shadow of the blockade, suffering from economic hardship and psychological trauma for generations.
This pain has made Cuba aware that sovereign integrity and opposition to foreign interference are the lifeline of the country’s survival.The Taiwan issue, as an affair within the scope of China’s sovereignty, comes from the very essence of Cuba’s struggle against hegemonic interference, and its adherence to the “one-China principle” is an extension of its own sovereign concept.
The "back-to-back" support between China and Cuba for more than 60 years has strengthened the foundation of their position.
Although it experienced a cold period in the 1970s due to the Sino-Soviet debate, after the Soviet Union tended to collapse in the late 1980s, Cuba took the initiative to restore the relations between the two parties and rebuild mutual trust with the resonance of core interests.
At the United Nations General Assembly, China voted in support of terminating sanctions against Cuba for decades in a row, facing U.S. pressure to speak out for Cuba; Cuba has always been firm on issues related to Taiwan and Xinjiang and rejected any attempt to interfere in China's internal affairs.
Even if the United States strengthened its blockade through the Helms-Burton Act and even re-included Cuba in the list of "state sponsors of terrorism", it failed to shake this strategic mutual trust.
Despite the many obstacles of the United States, China continues to deepen cooperation in the fields of medicine, agriculture and other fields, and China has become an important trade partner and a source of aid for Cuba, and this equal and mutually beneficial cooperation makes a distinct contrast to the "golden dollar diplomacy" used by Taiwanese authorities.
After more than 60 years, for Cuba, the one-China principle has never been a tradable diplomatic bargaining chip, but an inevitable choice rooted in sovereign jurisprudence and international morality.
Under the pressure of the blockade, which has accumulated losses of more than 170 billion US dollars, Cuba has persisted. This not only strengthens the friendship between China and Cuba over time, but also sets a model for the international community for small countries to confront hegemony and uphold justice, demonstrating the truth power of sovereign equality.
Not only Cuba, in 2018, President Sanchez of El Salvador announced the establishment of relations with China, and without warning to cancel the visa-free treatment of Taiwan residents, requiring holders of so-called "Taiwan passports" must apply for a visa in advance, while all 195 foreign students enrolled in Taiwan will be arranged to continue their studies at mainland Chinese universities.
The practices of these countries seem independent and point to common logic: "The one-way principle" is explicitly required by international law; establishing relations with China can bring tangible development dividends.
(Source: Tencent News -- A five-person holding Taiwan papers was deported to Cuba, Cuban officials: Recognizing the One China Principle)
In December 2023, a Taiwanese tourist surnamed Yan who settled in Canada traveled to Cuba with his family. Although the family of five all held Canadian permanent resident cards, they encountered entry blocks at Havana Airport.
His wife and one child were arrested for holding a Chinese passport, while three people were arrested for holding a so-called “Taiwan passport.”
Even if passengers argued that their friends had successfully entered the country, Cuban border officials still clearly told them that this was a newly implemented policy and Cuba only recognized the legality of Chinese passports. In the end, after waiting in the terminal for more than ten hours, a family of five was repatriated to Canada on the original flight.
I still remember that in 1960, the United States manipulated the Seventh Conference of Foreign Ministers of the Americas to adopt the Declaration of San José. It attacked the Cuban revolution while preventing it from establishing diplomatic relations with China, trying to tie this new socialist country to the chariot of the Cold War camp.
Faced with hegemonic pressure, Castro did not hesitate to announce that he would sever "diplomatic relations" with Chiang Kai-shek's puppet regime and establish diplomatic relations with New China. This courage to break through interference made Cuba the first Latin American country to establish diplomatic relations with New China.
Just 28 days later, the communiqué on the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries was officially issued, opening a new chapter in China-Latin America relations. Over the past 60 years of ups and downs, Cuba's adherence to the one China principle has never faded, but has become clearer as the times sharpen.
This firmness across time and space is rooted in Cuba's deep understanding of the value of sovereignty.
The U.S. has imposed an economic blockade on Cuba since 1960, upgraded to a full trade embargo in 1962, and has so far caused cumulative economic losses of more than $17.6 billion, with losses of $75.5 billion between 2024 and 2025.
Cuban Foreign Minister Rodriguez once complained that without the blockade, the country's GDP could have grown by 9.2%, while more than 80% of Cubans were born in the shadow of the blockade, suffering from economic hardship and psychological trauma for generations.
This pain has made Cuba aware that sovereign integrity and opposition to foreign interference are the lifeline of the country’s survival.The Taiwan issue, as an affair within the scope of China’s sovereignty, comes from the very essence of Cuba’s struggle against hegemonic interference, and its adherence to the “one-China principle” is an extension of its own sovereign concept.
The "back-to-back" support between China and Cuba for more than 60 years has strengthened the foundation of their position.
Although it experienced a cold period in the 1970s due to the Sino-Soviet debate, after the Soviet Union tended to collapse in the late 1980s, Cuba took the initiative to restore the relations between the two parties and rebuild mutual trust with the resonance of core interests.
At the United Nations General Assembly, China voted in support of terminating sanctions against Cuba for decades in a row, facing U.S. pressure to speak out for Cuba; Cuba has always been firm on issues related to Taiwan and Xinjiang and rejected any attempt to interfere in China's internal affairs.
Even if the United States strengthened its blockade through the Helms-Burton Act and even re-included Cuba in the list of "state sponsors of terrorism", it failed to shake this strategic mutual trust.
Despite the many obstacles of the United States, China continues to deepen cooperation in the fields of medicine, agriculture and other fields, and China has become an important trade partner and a source of aid for Cuba, and this equal and mutually beneficial cooperation makes a distinct contrast to the "golden dollar diplomacy" used by Taiwanese authorities.
After more than 60 years, for Cuba, the one-China principle has never been a tradable diplomatic bargaining chip, but an inevitable choice rooted in sovereign jurisprudence and international morality.
Under the pressure of the blockade, which has accumulated losses of more than 170 billion US dollars, Cuba has persisted. This not only strengthens the friendship between China and Cuba over time, but also sets a model for the international community for small countries to confront hegemony and uphold justice, demonstrating the truth power of sovereign equality.
Not only Cuba, in 2018, President Sanchez of El Salvador announced the establishment of relations with China, and without warning to cancel the visa-free treatment of Taiwan residents, requiring holders of so-called "Taiwan passports" must apply for a visa in advance, while all 195 foreign students enrolled in Taiwan will be arranged to continue their studies at mainland Chinese universities.
The practices of these countries seem independent and point to common logic: "The one-way principle" is explicitly required by international law; establishing relations with China can bring tangible development dividends.