Chinese officials have been pushing "legal advice" to European countries, claiming that their own border laws oblige them to ban Taiwanese politicians from entering, according to several diplomats and officials familiar with the matter, the British newspaper The Guardian reported today.
These officials have been sending demarches to European embassies in Beijing, or through local embassies directly to European governments in their capitals, warning European countries not to “tread on China’s red lines,” European diplomats and ministries who spoke to the Guardian said.
The manner of addressing them varied – some were addressed to individual states, some to groups; some through written notes verbale (a semi-formal diplomatic statement), others in person. These took place in November and December, and were at least partly in response to recent European trips by Taiwanese officials, including the current vice president and foreign minister, as well as a former president.
Beijing said it "respects the sovereignty of the European side in introducing and implementing visa policy," but that an "institutional loophole" had allowed frequent visits by Taiwanese politicians, according to a note of the meeting seen by the Guardian.
The Chinese side referred to several European Union (EU) laws and regulations, including one known as the Schengen Borders Code, which stipulates as a condition for the entry of third-country nationals that they "may not be considered a threat to ... the international relations of any of the member states."
The suggestion from officials, as the Guardian has learned, was that allowing Taiwanese officials to enter a European country would jeopardize that country's international relations with China.
In some cases, the Guardian was told, they also invoked the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, or suggested that European countries follow the example of the United Nations (UN) and ban all Taiwanese from entering government buildings.
"Beijing's implementation and interpretation of this regulation are bold. According to Beijing's interpretation, EU-Taiwan relations threaten EU-China relations. This is neither the perception nor the reality in Europe at all," said Žuža Anna Ferenci, an assistant professor at Taiwan's National Dong Hwa University, when informed of the moves.
China's Foreign Ministry did not respond to questions, the Guardian reports. But the note verbale said European countries should reject all "so-called diplomatic passports" issued by Taiwan and "ban Taiwanese personnel from entering Europe to establish official contacts and exchanges, and cross China's red line."
"China hopes that EU institutions and European countries, taking into account the broader interests of China-EU relations and bilateral relations, will make a political decision to deny entry to the so-called president or vice president of Taiwan (including former ones)," it said, listing other officials.
The note cites the visits of these officials to Belgium, the Czech Republic, Poland, the Netherlands, Italy, Austria, Germany, Lithuania, Denmark, Estonia and Ireland, assessing that they "seriously undermine China-EU relations."
"The European side... even allowed (Vice President) Xiao Bi-kim to speak in the European Parliament building and promote separatist claims of 'Taiwan independence'," it said, recalling a speech Xiao gave at the annual summit of the Inter-Party Alliance for China in Brussels.
The foreign ministries of Norway and Finland confirmed that they were among the countries that had received such advice. They stated that the visa regime for Taiwan was being determined within the framework of the competent Schengen bodies.
A British Foreign Office spokesman said: "Permission to enter the UK is determined solely by our laws and immigration rules, which apply equally to those travelling from Taiwan."
Taiwan's Foreign Ministry said the officials' visits to Europe were "completely unrelated to China and China has no right to interfere."
"On the contrary, China's use of various coercive measures against other states and its threats of force against Taiwan, which undermine global and Indo-Pacific peace and stability and threaten the EU's immediate interests, constitute a real force that is disrupting European international relations. China's actions should be condemned," the spokesperson told the Guardian.
The Guardian has learned that China's "extremely precise" advice - which refers to European border regulations in force since 2011 - was not seen as legally sound by its recipients, but the warning tone was taken particularly seriously in some smaller countries.
"I see this as another way to create unease among member states that their relations with (the People's Republic of China) could be called into question... and Beijing knows very well that some EU members are currently very interested in attracting Chinese investment," Ferenczi said.
The EU does not take a position on the status of Taiwan and, while it has formal relations with Beijing, it maintains "strong" unofficial relations with Taipei through parliamentary diplomacy and trade. Several European countries, as well as the EU itself, have trade offices in Taipei that function as unofficial embassies.
However, in recent years the EU has come under increasing pressure from Beijing, which considers Taiwan a province of China and intends to annex it – by force if necessary. As part of its strategy to force Taiwan to accept unification without conflict, Beijing is exerting strong diplomatic pressure on the international community to isolate Taipei from multilateral engagement.
Klaus Sung, an analyst at Merix specializing in China's global strategy, said the unusual move fits into Beijing's long-standing strategy of using all possible means to deter closer cooperation with Taiwan.
"Beijing is trying as hard as it can to send the message that there really should be some thought before allowing Taiwanese officials in. I wouldn't say it's a threat, it's more of a reminder, although not necessarily a gentle one," he said.
Bonus video:
