The government of Chile expressed this Tuesday (16) support for China regarding the status of Taiwan.
The Minister of Chilean Foreign Affairs, Antonia Urrejola, spoke by phone with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and conveyed “Chile’s permanent commitment to the principle of ‘one China’ expressed since the beginning of the bilateral relationship. , in 1970”.
“The two authorities agreed on the importance of multilateral dialogue, the defense of international law and the principles of the United Nations Charter”, Chile’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Following US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan earlier this month, China began military maneuvers in around the island and responded with trade sanctions on some Taiwanese products and on the veteran democratic policy itself.
China claims sovereignty over the island and considers Taiwan a rebel province since the nationalist Kuomintang party settled there in 1949, after losing the civil war against the communists on the mainland.
The Asian giant is one of Chile’s main trading partners, with which it established diplomatic relations in 1970 and signed a free trade agreement in 2005.
In 2023, the volume of bilateral trade reached US$ 41 billion, 5.8 times more than before the signing of the agreement, according to official data.
During the telephone conversation, Urrejola and the Chinese minister also “agreed on the importance of diversifying the bilateral relationship based on cooperation in various areas, such as vaccine development, production of medicines, clean energy generation, smart cities and 5G communication, among others”, says the statement.
The Chinese minister reiterated the invitation to Chilean President Gabriel Boric to visit the country as in 2023, which “shows the convergence of mutual interests”, adds the text.
Only 14 countries diplomatically recognize Taiwan as an independent state: Belize, Eswatini, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Paraguay, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tuvalu and Vatican.
However, many others recognize the right to the island of a democratic and independent administration from mainland China, and the United States has made a commitment to military assistance should Beijing invade Taiwan.
