Slovenia and Taiwan negotiate mutual establishment of representative offices, will they be named after Lithuania after “Taiwan” – BBC News 中文

Taiwan has established economic and trade representative offices in many EU countries, most of which are named after “Taipei”, including Hungary and Poland. Only the little Lithuania in the Baltic Sea broke the convention and established the “Taiwan Representative Office in Lithuania” in the name of Taiwan last year. That ignited Beijing’s ire, downgrading China’s ties with Lithuania and trying to keep other EU countries from following suit through trade pressure.

Prime Minister Jansa did not make it clear whether Slovenia would follow Lithuania. Regarding the mutual establishment of representative offices, he said, “This is not an embassy-level issue, but an existing level (discussion) in many EU member states,” Yansa said in an interview with Indian public broadcaster Doordarshan on Monday.

He added, “Most EU member states have some form of representation with Taiwan. Lithuania is no exception. There are some nuances in naming, but that doesn’t matter.”

Based on this, Feng Rusha speculates that Slovenia does not intend to deviate from the EU’s “one China” policy, so it is unlikely to set up a representative office in the name of “Taiwan”. “He (Jansa) played down the question of names and instead focused on the relationship that many (EU) member states maintain with Taiwan and how China is protesting anyway.”

Prof Sabic said it was difficult to predict how Slovenia would name its representative offices, but the decision to open each other’s representative offices should take precedence over their names.

“In Slovenia, developing any relationship with Taiwan is a taboo topic, except for Jansa’s right-wing party. So being able to open a representative office itself is already extraordinary for Slovenia.”

Moreover, Jansa has made no secret of his close political ties to some other Central European countries that have representative offices in Taiwan, and so may not deviate from their naming practices, Sabic said. Coupled with the current discussion in Lithuania on the consequences of China’s strong suppression of the establishment of a representative office in Taiwan, the establishment of a representative office in negotiations at this time is likely to be named “Taipei”.

Lithuania’s General Manager Gitanas Nauseda said earlier that it was a mistake to open a representative office in the name of “Taiwan”, which caused a lot of controversy. Lithuanian opposition parties and Taiwan-friendly figures strongly criticized the president. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs later reiterated that the Lithuanian government welcomes the establishment of a representative office in Taiwan and that this decision is “firm and unwavering.”

In Slovenia, Prime Minister Jansa’s remarks were also criticized by opposition parties and business figures. Meanwhile, Slovenian Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek also posted on Facebook, stressing the importance of economic interests.

“China is one of Slovenia’s largest economic partners outside the EU. As President Xi Jinping and I pointed out at the 17+1 initiative meeting, this cooperation is getting stronger.”

Slovenia’s foreign policy must put the country’s economic interests first, Botswvarsek said. “Making a personal opinion, even if it is well-intentioned, must take into account economic realities”.

The economic and trade exchanges between Taiwan and Slovenia are currently under the jurisdiction of the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Taipei, Austria.

In addition to the establishment of the representative office, Prime Minister Jansa also firmly expressed his support for Taiwan in many aspects. The analysis pointed out that this is in line with the Prime Minister’s consistent support for Taiwan since he took office, but it remains to be seen to what extent it is affected by the Lithuanian effect.

Prime Minister Yansa said, “(Taiwan) is a democratic country that respects all international democratic standards, including international law,” and also supported Taiwan’s participation in the World Health Organization, saying that “it is also good for China to have a neighboring country to join this organization.”

Prime Minister Yansa has always been friendly to Taiwan since taking office. For example, in January last year, Yansa held a video conference with Taiwan’s Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shizhong as the Prime Minister and Minister of Health to support Taiwan’s participation in the World Health Assembly and global medical cooperation.

Prof. Shabic is therefore not surprised that Yansa has recently expressed her support for Taiwan in a high profile. “Yansa often makes public statements that don’t appear to be well coordinated between him and government ministers, or even the president.”

Sabic also said that China still has some investment in Slovenia, and it remains to be seen whether Prime Minister Jansa takes this into account in his specific decision.

But in addition to actual economic interests, Slovenia is also moving closer to “value diplomacy”. “Values ​​are also important, maybe more than ever. Jansah is definitely right about one thing: Taiwan is a democracy,” Sabic said.

Feng Rusha believes that Prime Minister Yansa is a pragmatic politician.

He has visited Taiwan many times, and in the 1990s he established the “Slovenia-Taiwan Friendship Association” under the Slovenian Parliament. During a visit to Beijing in 2007, Jansa said developing good relations with China should be one of the country’s priorities. In 2011, when he was still an opposition party, he led a delegation to visit Taiwan. Returning to his opposition, he criticized China and aligned himself with U.S. China policy.

“He is pragmatic towards China, that is, while cooperating with China, he rejects China’s threats and coercion,” Feng said. “In addition to his recent remarks on the Taiwan issue, if his position remains unchanged, he will continue to expand with Taiwan. Relationship.”

According to reports, the Slovenian president said on Thursday that a new round of parliamentary elections will be held in April this year. The Associated Press said the vote will test the popularity of right-wing Prime Minister Janssa in the small EU country’s political strife.

Prime Minister Yansa also criticized China for trying to isolate Lithuania in a recent interview with Indian Public Radio. He said that “every time an EU country establishes such a representative office, China will protest, but it has never been so extreme this time.”

When Slovenia holds the rotating EU presidency in the second half of 2021, Jansa called for support for Lithuania in a letter to EU leaders.

The use of trade as a weapon in a diplomatic dispute against EU member states “is reprehensible and will have an impact on China-EU relations as a whole,” he wrote. He also called for a European approach to dealing with China.

Is Slovenia affected by Lithuania’s economic and trade pressure? “There is no doubt that China’s retaliation against Lithuania has had an impact on Slovenia,” Feng Rusha said. She thinks that’s why Jansa wrote about the issue last year.

The EU has deep economic and trade ties with China, but since 2019, the EU has seen China as a “systemic competitor” and its member states are more inclined to reduce China’s participation when planning their European policies. At the same time, U.S. pressure on European allies to take a clearer stance on China is mounting. The outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic has further exacerbated the EU’s unease about China.

Feng Rusha believes that in this situation, Slovenia is dealing with Beijing with a tougher attitude, while engaging more actively with Taiwan.

“China’s behavior is affecting the entire CEE region, how they view China, and how China decisively exerts influence and uses coercion to advance national interests,” Feng Rusha said.

The EU’s informal foreign ministers’ meeting previously criticized China’s economic and trade pressure on Lithuania, and said it would unite with Lithuania. China’s foreign ministry said it “resolutely opposes any form of political and diplomatic coercion, and never treats other countries with economic coercion.”

Professor Sabic believes that due to the poor coordination between the Prime Minister and the government and the President, Slovenia will not have a great impact on how other EU countries handle their relations with China.

Beijing is now believed to be trying to send a signal to EU member states to avoid a domino effect by exerting economic pressure on Lithuania. European business officials have complained that Beijing’s threats to Lithuanian companies are turning to other European companies doing business with Lithuania. Some analysts said that Slovenia’s move may increase Beijing’s efforts to crack down on Lithuania.

Feng Rusha was not surprised by this. She believes that EU support for Lithuania has been strengthened after Beijing put pressure on European companies, which she expects to continue.

“The more China’s behavior escalates, the more emboldened EU member states will be to speed up negotiations on new counter-coercion measures. The issue now goes beyond Lithuania, and Brussels sees it as a European problem that needs a European solution.”

The EU’s executive commission in December proposed new trade defence measures known as “anti-coercion measures”, a legislative measure aimed at countering pressure on member states by non-EU states. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, said on the 14th of this month that the French government will work hard to speed up the passage of the bill.

Sabic believes that Beijing may make its next move depending on the situation of the new government after Slovenia’s April elections.