Lithuania is in trouble with China because it allowed Taiwan to open something called the "Taiwanese Representative Office" in Vilnius. The Washington Post talked to Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis about how this is shaking out:
Surely Lithuania knew China would respond forcefully to allowing Taiwan — which Beijing claims as part of China — to open a representative office under its own name, as opposed to using Chinese Taipei, a title other countries often use to get around this question.
We stand by the belief that people can have a name for their representative office of their liking if it’s agreed between the two sides and if it’s not infringing on any international obligations. So we stand by it. But the escalation level that China decided to choose is beyond anything that’s happened before against any other country in the world. This is like the Spanish Inquisition, which nobody had expected.
Kudos, sir. Well played. For our next trick, the defense minister of Estonia will discuss NATO preparedness while sneaking in references to Office Space.
This gets more confusing with new incidents and new posturing keeping us on the edge of our seats.
Somebody clarify this for me: What is Taiwan/Chinese Taipai? Is it a country? Then certainly they should put representatives wherever they are welcome, and tell China to go pound sand. OTOH, is it not a country, but merely a political subdivision of China. Then any representation they (Taiwan/Chinese Taipai) wants to establish anywhere outside their own borders is surely subject to the rules of their country, which is China. That's clearcut. At no time was Maryland free to establish a "Maryland Representative Office" in Havana without federal approval during the years the US was barring any such activity.
Lots of political issues, especially involving international issues, are very complex. This doesn't seem to me like it ought to be one of the complex ones.
Most countries want to treat Taiwan as a country, and have normal diplomatic relations with that country. Most countries also want to have normal diplomatic relations with China. China does not want to have normal diplomatic relations with any country that treats Taiwan as a country.
So, what's your answer to the question, "Is Taiwan a country?"
Steve, all your three points are clearly valid. Sadly, though, what somebody wants doesn't equate to a definitive statement of status. To find out what's a country, we could look to either of two sources:
(1) If the UN recognizes it as a country.
(2) If they themselves declare themselves a country and a large percentage of the other recognized countries of the world recognize them as such.
So what's the answer to my question? I don't know. I know one who does NOT recognize them as a country, but I don't know whether a large number of other countries DO recognize them as such.
I suspect the answer is NO, which probably means China is not unreasonable in demanding that Taiwan/Chinese Taipai start behaving themselves according to the rules of their country, which is China.
The point of my reply is that you're asking for a black-and-white answer to a question that doesn't have one. Officially? No, Taiwan is not a country. Only a dozen or so other nations recognize it as such. Unofficially? Yes, as evidenced by the many, many times government officials all over the world have had to walk back statements that explicitly or implicitly gave Taiwan that status.
A very appropriate reply from a citizen of British Washington.
Taiwan is certainly an independent country in all ways that matter but it must maintain the fiction that it is a "rogue" part of China for international affairs purposes. In theory Taiwan is actually the ROC (Republic of China) and its government traces its roots directly to the ROC formed in mainland China in the early 20th century. The heros of that era like Sun Yet Sen and Chain Ka Shek are widely revered there. I believe the fiction is still maintained that the ROC is some kind of government in exile of all of China but they may have given up on that.
This is an issue close to my heart as I lived in Taiwan for a time and they certainly have all of the trappings of an independent nation. I'm not sure how much longer this "rogue province" charade can continue (it's already been over 60 years) but it's a complete disservice to the good people of Taiwan.
Do they claim officially to be the true government of all China?
Like everything else involved in this debate, that's complicated. In 1992, the ROC passed a law saying that it is the true government of all of China. The Kuomintang, and its coalition partners, continues to assert this. The Democratic People's Party, which has been the government since 2016, rejects the One China policy in its entirety, and only claims to be the government of Taiwan.
If that 1992 law is still in place it's easy to imagine Beijing finding it irritating.
Touché.
Yes, but to what extent is the regime in Beijing like the original versus the Monty Python sketch?