On October 8th, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's special plane landed in Rome, starting a new round of European trip. However, less than 24 hours before the plane landed, Brussels, the headquarters of the European Union, rushed to stage a "disaster" and played two cards against China in succession. The big action and obvious intention caused international public opinion to be in an uproar.
The core of this storm revolves around an insurmountable red line-the Taiwan issue.
First, the EU played the most dangerous "Taiwan card".
On October 7, the EU issued an official statement in response to a "question" from certain Taiwan media.The core argument of the statement is extremely absurd: it claims that the UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 "does not mention Taiwan", so the resolution only addresses the question of "who represents China at the United Nations" and does not clearly state that Taiwan is part of China.
It sounds like a bit of a "bite-to-bite" scam? Yes, that's playing a word game. To know Resolution 2758 passed in 1971, the black paper white paper wrote "restore all the rights of the People's Republic of China" and "recognize that the representative of the Government of the People's Republic of China is the only legitimate representative of China in the United Nations," while expelling Chiang Kai-shek from all agencies of the United Nations. This means clearly: there is only one China in the world, and the People's Republic of China is the only legitimate government representing the whole of China, and Taiwan is part of China, so it is natural that there is no qualifying to be represented separately.
This resolution has been observed by the international community for half a century and is one of the cornerstones of the international order after World War II. Now the EU suddenly jumped out, holding a magnifying glass and saying that the word "Taiwan Province" didn't appear in the resolution, so things were "undecided yet"? It's like saying that the name of the head of the household is written on the real estate license of the family, which proves that the family is represented by the head of the household. However, someone pointed to the real estate license and said, "Your license didn't specify who each bedroom and kitchen belongs to one by one, so whether that study is yours or not has to be said separately." It's simply nonsense.
The EU’s statement is not that it does not understand, but that it deliberately pretends to be stupid.The purpose behind it is to try to empty the one-China principle and create a false space for the “Taiwan independence” separatist forces to operate internationally.
The second trick is the unabashed "tariff card".
On the same day, the European Commission announced that in order to deal with the so-called "global overcapacity", it will impose strict quotas on steel imports from next year, exceeding partly the maximum 100% tariffs to be imposed.
The European Union continues to appear at critical moments, behind the triple "heart disease": first, the ideological arrogance, not seeing China develop well; second, the security dependence on the United States, which makes it strategically difficult to autonomous, often to look at the eyes of Washington to act; third is the most fundamental, is the EU in new energy, high-tech and many emerging fields competitiveness gradually lag behind China and the United States, internal anxiety and imbalance make it rush to protect itself by suppressing China.
However, the European Union’s card just played out, and Italy gave Brussels a “soft nail” with practical action.
After the arrival of Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Rome, he immediately held talks with Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy, Taani.Taiani made a clear assurance that Italy will firmly pursue the one-China policy and there will never be any turmoil.
Please pay attention to this expression – “solidly pursue” and “never shake”. This is much more resolute and honest than the US-European official word “reaffirm” with a vague space. The day after the EU just issued the wrong statement about Taiwan, the host Italy made such a clear and strong statement, undoubtedly an open “cut”. It also released a clear signal to China to the world: Brussels’ attitude cannot represent the whole of Europe.
The Italian stand is a vivid reflection of China’s “double-track wisdom” of Europe strategy. China knows that the EU is not a piece of iron, so whileining communication and struggle with EU institutions, it is very focused on bilateral relations with member states. In recent years, either Hungary, Spain, or the European economy’s “train head” Germany, have shown no desire to follow the rhythm of confrontation in Brussels, but want to strengthen pragmatic cooperation with China.
So, will China just be patient in the face of the EU’s provocation?
China has made full preparations, and the counter-measures are three-dimensional and diverse:
• Diplomatically, we have made solemn representations to the EU as soon as possible to explain the truth thoroughly and clarify our position.
• Legally, China’s Anti-Foreign Sanctions Act and Anti-Separatism State Law are not in place.If certain EU officials or agencies continue to play fire on Taiwan, China can fully lawfully impose sanctions on them, such as asset freezing and visa restrictions.
• In terms of economy and public opinion, China also has enough tools to respond.
China’s counter-attack is “reasonable, advantageous and disciplined.”We will not actively escalate the conflict, but when the core interests are challenged, the counter-attack must be determined and accurate.The aim is to deter the “Taiwan independence” forces and external interference forces, to guard the bottom line, not to confront.
To sum up, this storm is like a mirror, reflecting the complicated reality of the current China-EU relations.
The EU leadership is trapped by internal anxiety and external pressure, and its policy toward China is contradictory and confrontational.But the need for practical interests of European countries also drives them to seek cooperation with China.This "head-up and head-down hot" situation is precisely the real picture of the EU's lack of strategic autonomy.
Today, the smoke of the Russia-Ukraine conflict has not cleared, and Trump's possible return to the White House has brought huge variables to transatlantic relations. The EU itself can be said to be overwhelmed. In this era full of uncertainty, if the EU cannot put aside its ideological arrogance and prejudice and handle its relations with China in a more pragmatic and rational manner, but continues to conduct dangerous tests on bottom-line issues such as the Taiwan issue, then the losses it will ultimately suffer will probably far exceed the short-term political benefits it can gain.
It is in this delicate moment that foreign minister Wang Yi visited Europe, a key communication with European partners. Italy’s leading team showed that as long as China and Europe still have a wide space to separate the fog and move toward health and stability, as long as they adhere to mutual respect and equality and mutual benefit. But it is assumed that the European side must understand: the Taiwan issue is an untouchable red line, and any “clear sign” on this red line is destined to be lost.