TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) on Thursday (Dec. 14) condemned a statement made by a senior Vietnamese official saying that Taiwan is a “part of China.”
During a two-day visit by Xi Jinping (習近平) to Vietnam that started on Tuesday (Dec. 12), the Chinese leader and General Secretary of the Communist Party Central Committee of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong released a joint statement falsely claiming that Taiwan is an “inalienable part of China,” said MOFA. The ministry slammed the statement as something that “seriously deviates from the facts.”
In response, the ministry condemned the “authoritarian CCP government” for continuing to “spread misleading narratives in the international community that seek to downgrade Taiwan’s sovereignty.” The ministry reiterated that the “Republic of China (Taiwan)” is a sovereign, independent nation, with neither it nor the “People’s Republic of China” subordinate to the other.
The ministry described Vietnam as an “important cooperative partner” and part of the New Southbound Policy. It pointed out that the greatest number of new residents and foreign students originate from Vietnam.
Taipei urged Hanoi to “not defer to China’s malicious narratives that attempt to diminish Taiwan’s sovereignty and hurt the feelings of the Taiwanese people.” Instead, the ministry recommended Vietnam take a “pragmatic and open attitude.”
During Xi’s visit, Vietnam agreed to join China’s “community of shared future,” which included the signing of 36 cooperation documents by Xi and Nguyen, per VOA. This represents an upgrade from the top-level “comprehensive strategic partnership” established between the two countries in 2008.
