China Warns Canada Over Planned Lawmakers’ Visit to Taiwan

By Staff, Agencies

China warned Canada over a planned visit by Canadian parliamentarians to Chinese Taipei, threatening to take “forceful measures” if Ottawa interferes in Beijing’s affairs regarding the self-ruled island.

“We urge the Canadian side to abide by the one-China principle and respect China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the Chinese Embassy in Canada said in a statement late on Tuesday. “China will take resolute and forceful measures against any country that attempts to interfere with or infringe upon China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Members of a Canada-Taiwan parliamentary friendship group, which does not receive administrative or financial support from the Canadian parliament, are planning to visit Chinese Taipei in October. The planned trip was announced last week.

China has sovereignty over Taipei, and under the internationally-recognized “one-China” policy, nearly all countries recognize that sovereignty, meaning that they would not establish diplomatic contact with its secessionist government.

Canadian Liberal MP Judy Sgro claimed when announcing the planned visit that it would focus on trade and that the legislators’ intent was not to disrupt and cause problems for Chinese Taipei or with China.

On Wednesday, Adrien Blanchard, a spokesperson for Canada’s Foreign Ministry, said that China should not use the planned visit by the Canadian parliamentarians as a pretext for what he called military or economic aggression.

“As we have said before, the travel of parliamentarians should not be used as a pretext for escalation or aggressive military and economic actions,” he said, stressing that parliamentary associations and friendship groups made travel decisions independently and that the Canadian government respected the lawmakers’ intent to visit Chinese Taipei.

Canada is closely mimicking the United States by professing adherence to the “one-China” policy but bypassing Beijing in relations with Taipei. Even the planned visit by the Canadian lawmakers and the Foreign Ministry statement came shortly after a similar episode involving US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Pelosi stirred controversy when she made a trip to Taipei early this month and met with its president in what had been meant to be an affront to Beijing. China reacted by asserting its sovereignty and holding military drills around Chinese Taipei for several days.

The administration of US President Joe Biden, even though it had reportedly expressed private opposition to Pelosi’s visit, publicly supported her right to travel to the island and warned Beijing against escalation.

The United States provides massive amounts of armaments to Taipei and sails warships through the strategically-sensitive Taiwan Strait, which separates Chinese Taipei from mainland China. US naval forces have been conducting such maneuvers near Chinese waters about once a month.