TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A senior Estonian politician has pushed back against his country’s decision to boost ties with Taiwan saying “there is no point in playing with fire.”
Bloomberg reported on Friday (Nov. 11) that lawmaker and deputy speaker of the Estonian parliament Toomas Kivimagi is unhappy with his country’s decision to allow Taiwan to open a trade office under the name “Taiwanese capital Taipei.” His comments follow a meeting earlier in the week during which the Chinese ambassador to the country said they may leave if the office is opened.
Kivimagi said he did not want to escalate tensions between China and his country. “It’s not smart for us to ruin relations with China,” he said.
On Thursday, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin (汪文斌) urged Estonia to “abide by its commitment to the one-China principle,” and said China opposes any official exchange with Taiwan. After the Estonian government announced the Taiwan trade office it emphasized that it would not engage with Taiwan politically, and it would continue to support the one-China policy.
Following that, Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) was hosted by an Estonian government-established but independent think tank on Thursday for a speech in which he thanked the Estonian government for their support. Wu said Taiwan will work to develop asymmetric warfare capabilities with Baltic countries, and spoke of China’s increasing “grey zone” tactics employed to coerce Taiwan.
