Chinese embassy fumes over WION’s interview with Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu

Following Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu's interview with WION, the Chinese embassy has said that it "strongly deplores and firmly opposed" the interview. The reaction, in the form of a release, has been put on the Chinese embassy website and a copy of it has been sent to our diplomatic correspondent Sidhant Sibal asking him to take it "seriously".

The statement restated Beijing's standard line on Taiwan, saying, "China firmly opposes separatist moves toward 'Taiwan independence' and interference by external forces, and never allows any room for 'Taiwan independence' forces in whatever form."

It went on to say, "As an unsettled question since the Chinese civil war, Taiwan will eventually return to the embrace of the motherland and the two sides of the Taiwan Strait will surely achieve reunification."

The Taiwan foreign minister, Wu on Friday (Apr 12) gave an exclusiveto WION, in which hespoke at length about India-Taiwan ties, and the current situation in the Taiwan Strait.

During the interview, the FM said, "We want to maintain the status quo and the status quo is that Taiwan is not run by the PRC and we don't want to see a day that authoritarian China or communist China is going to have its jurisdiction over Taiwan."

On the current situation in the Taiwan Strait, he said, "Chinese have been putting pressure on Taiwan. They conduct military exercises around Taiwan very often. And as we speak, right now, the Chinese are flying sorties and have their warships conducting exercises not far from Taiwan, and also they are engaging in economic pressure against Taiwan."

In the past few months, increased engagement has been seen between India and Taiwan, including, the signing of a mobility pact, a Taiwanese company involved in establishing semiconductors fab plant in Gujarat. Later this year, Taiwan will open an office, its de facto consulate in India's financial city, Mumbai.

This reaction from the Chinese Embassy was not unexpected, given its past responses to engagements between Taiwanese officials and Indian media outlets.

The Embassy's approach is reflective of China's assertive and aggressive style of diplomacy, often characterised as "wolf warrior diplomacy." Such tactics, while intended to assert China's interests, have been criticised for their counterproductive nature and detrimental impact on international cooperation.

WION, anticipating a strong response from the Chinese Embassy, had during the interview questioned Wu about his expectations regarding such reactions. He said, "Chinese criticism is unwarranted and continue to speak with Taiwan to make sure that we (Indians & Taiwanese) understand each other and we can continue to strengthen our people-to-people ties."