Lawmakers from 6 countries said Beijing is forcing them not to attend a conference in Taiwan
BEIJING: Lawmakers from at least six countries say Chinese diplomats pressured them to attend a China-focused summit in Taiwan, which they say is an effort to isolate the self-ruled island.
Politicians in Bolivia, Colombia, Slovakia, North Macedonia, Bosnia and one Asian country who declined to be named said they were receiving texts, calls and urgent requests for meetings that conflicted with their plans to travel to Taipei. China strongly defends its claim to Taiwan and considers it its own territory and will annex it by force if necessary.
The conference begins Monday and is organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, or IPAC, a group of hundreds of lawmakers from 35 countries concerned about Beijing's approach to democracy. IPAC has long faced pressure from the Chinese government: Some members have been sanctioned by Beijing, and in 2021 the group was targeted by Chinese state-backed hackers, according to an unsealed US indictment on the beginning of this year.
But Luke de Pulford, director of the alliance, said the pressure from Chinese authorities in recent days was unprecedented. During the IPAC meeting elsewhere, the lawmakers were approached by Chinese diplomats before they finished. At this year's IPAC annual meeting in Taiwan, there appeared to be a concerted effort to prevent participants from attending.
The Associated Press spoke with three lawmakers and reviewed texts and emails sent by Chinese diplomats asking if they plan to participate in the meeting.
“I am Wu, from the Chinese Embassy,” read the message sent to Antonio Miloshoski, a member of parliament in North Macedonia. “We heard that you received an invitation from IPAC, will you be attending the conference that will be held in Taiwan next week?”
In some cases, lawmakers described vague questions about their plans to travel to Taiwan. In other cases, the connection is more ominous: One lawmaker told the AP that Chinese diplomats had sent messages to his party chief to prevent him from traveling.
“They contacted the president of my political party, asking him to stop me from going to Taiwan,” said Sanela Klarić, a member of Bosnia's parliament. “They are trying, in my country, to stop me from going … It is very wrong.”
China has threatened to retaliate against politicians and countries that show support for Taiwan, which has informal relations with most countries due to Chinese diplomatic pressure. Klarić said the pressure was not pleasant but strengthened his determination to go on the trip.
“I am really fighting against a country or a society where there is fear of tools to manipulate and control the people,” Klarić said, adding that he was reminded of the threats and intimidation he faced while suffering from the war in Bosnia. it was the 1990s. “I really hate the feeling when someone scares you.”
The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
De Pulford called the pressure a “massive influx of foreigners”.
“How will the PRC officials feel if we try to tell them about their travel plans, what they can and can't go?” de Pulford, uses the abbreviation of China's official name, the People's Republic of China. “It is truly shocking that they think they can interfere with the travel plans of foreign lawmakers.
MPs from 25 countries are expected to attend this year's meeting. Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Last week, Beijing criticized Taiwan for the annual Han Kuang military exercises, saying that Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party had “carried out a provocation to seek independence”.
“Any attempt to destabilize tensions and use force to seek independence or reject reunification is doomed to failure,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning told reporters.
China has cut off diplomatic allies on the island, often with promises of development aid, in a long-running rivalry between the two that has favored Beijing in recent years. a few years. The Pacific island nation of Nauru switched recognition to Beijing earlier this year, a move that reduced Taiwan's number of diplomatic allies to 12.
But China's aggressive approach has sometimes alienated other countries.
In 2021, Beijing cut ties and blocked imports from EU and NATO member Lithuania after the Baltic state broke diplomatic ties by admitting that its representative office Taiwanese in the capital Vilnius will bear the name Taiwan instead of Chinese Taipei. , which other countries use to avoid offending Beijing. The following year, the European Union adopted a resolution criticizing Beijing's attitude towards Taiwan and took action against China at the World Trade Organization over import restrictions.
The pressure on the IPAC meeting also caused a backlash.
Bolivian Senator Centa Rek said he sent a letter of protest after a Chinese diplomat called him and said he would not go to Taiwan, saying the island was run by a “fake president” and an organization “not recognized within the term”. -work” hosted the meeting. on China's mainland policy.” When Rek refused, the diplomat said he would report his decision to his embassy, which Rek interpreted as a “veiled threat.”
“I told him that this is unauthorized access, I will not accept orders or government access,” said Rek. “These are personal decisions and I see that he has exceeded all international political standards.”
Most of the targeted lawmakers appear to be from smaller countries, which de Pulford, the alliance's director, said was likely because “Beijing feels they can get away with it.” But he added that pressure tactics made participants more determined to participate in the summit.
Miriam Lexmann, a Slovakian member of the European Parliament whose party president was approached by Chinese diplomats, said the pressure underscored why she came to Taiwan.
We want to exchange information, ways to deal with the challenges and threats that China presents to the democratic part of the world, and of course, to support Taiwan,” he said.
