TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's representative office to the European Union and Belgium on Saturday rejected a claim by the Chinese Embassy in Belgium that Taiwan is part of China.
The Chinese Embassy in Belgium posted on Facebook on Friday asserting Beijing's position on Taiwan. The post also urged the Belgian public to support it.
In response, Taiwan's representative office issued statements in Mandarin, English, Dutch, French, and German. It said repeating a narrative does not make it a fact.
The office said claims that Taiwan is part of the People's Republic of China have been repeated so frequently that some people have come to accept them as fact, but argued that they do not stand up to reality. The People's Republic of China (China) has never governed Taiwan since its founding in 1949.
The office said Taiwan is a democratic country with free elections, an independent judiciary, and a vibrant civil society. It added that the right of self-determination of Taiwan's 23 million people should not disappear because others seek to rule them.
According to the office, questions regarding Taiwan's status should be addressed based on “history, law, and reality” rather than propaganda.
Following World War II, Japan signed the San Francisco Peace Treaty in 1951, under which it renounced sovereignty over Taiwan and the Penghu Islands. The treaty did not specify a recipient of that sovereignty, according to the Legislative Yuan.
Since the mid-1980s, Taiwan has undergone political liberalization and democratization, culminating in its first direct presidential election in 1996. From that point on, all central executive and legislative representatives have been elected by the people.
Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the system has functioned as Taiwan’s governing authority and external representative body, shaping a status quo in which Taiwan and China are on equal footing. Taiwan has seen three ruling party alternations since 2000, which Lin said reflect the public’s commitment to democracy and freedom.