EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell was right to reiterate in an op-ed in the French weekly Le Journal du Dimanche on April 22 that the European Union's position on the Taiwan question is "simple and consistent" and "there is only one China".
It was outrageous, though, that he urged "European navies to patrol the Taiwan Strait to signify Europe's commitment to freedom of navigation in this absolute crucial area".Although he said that "at the same time, we must be vigilant against provocations and outbidding", his blatantly provocative statement is a challenge to China's sovereignty and to the one-China principle he mentioned.
Tensions in the Taiwan Strait have risen dramatically over the past years because of Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen's refusal to acknowledge the 1992 Consensus that there is only one China which has helped ensure peace, stability and prosperity, especially during the eight years of Ma Ying-jeou's leadership when cross-Strait relations flourished.
More important, the United States has increasingly used the Taiwan question as a geopolitical tool against China since the Donald Trump administration deviated from the policy and practice followed by US presidents, from Richard Nixon to Barack Obama.
By sending navy vessels to sail through the Strait, the EU member states will heighten tensions across the Strait
Incumbent US President Joe Biden has said that US forces will defend Taiwan, words that were later walked back by his aides. The US has increased its high-level official contacts with Taiwan and also ramped up arms sales to the Chinese island while US navy vessels frequently sail through the Strait and in Chinese waters, flexing their muscles. Also, US lawmakers have been pushing for legislation relating to Taiwan, which is provocative to the Chinese mainland.
Many US experts on China, including some pro-Taiwan scholars, have publicly criticized the Trump and Biden administrations for their moves to try and change the status quo across the Strait. For example, Harvard University scholar Graham Allison warned recently that, "American politics is driving towards a provocation that China could not avoid."
That is probably why French President Emmanuel Macron said the EU should avoid getting dragged into a confrontation between Beijing and Washington over the Taiwan question.
To respond to the unprecedented provocations, the People's Liberation Army has held military drills to demonstrate the country's determination and capability to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity. Beijing has been crystal clear and consistent that it will exercise utmost patience and strive to achieve national reunification through peaceful means but it will not rule out the use of force to reunify Taiwan with the motherland, which is a clear warning to the separatists on the Chinese island to not try Beijing's patience.
By sending navy vessels to sail through the Strait, the EU member states will heighten tensions across the Strait. As a seasoned diplomat, Borrell should know this well and speak up against the US' provocative moves and Tsai's bid to achieve "Taiwan independence", instead of adding fuel to the fire.
Like some US politicians, Borrell, whose official designation is EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, claimed that Taiwan "concerns us economically, commercially and technologically", but he should know that Taiwan concerns the mainland much more in every which way you look at it for the simple reason that it is part of the country. Even in terms of trade, the mainland is by far the bigger partner of Taiwan than the EU's 27 member states combined.
As a former Spanish foreign minister, Borrell should also realize that China has long supported Spain's sovereignty and opposed the independence movement in Catalonia. The Taiwan question is China's core interest and the redline no country should try to cross.
Any foreign provocation and challenge to the country's sovereignty over the Taiwan question is a provocation and challenge to the more than 1.4 billion Chinese people.
Of course, when Borrell and other EU officials say "Europe", it really means the bloc's 27 members while Europe has some 50 countries.
The author is chief of China Daily EU Bureau based in Brussels.
chenweihua@chinadaily.com.cn