The government of Chile on Tuesday expressed support for China regarding the status of Taiwan.
Chilean Foreign Minister Antonia Urrejola spoke by phone with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and conveyed “Chile’s ongoing commitment to the principle of ‘one China’ expressed from 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 Charter of the United Nations,” the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
Following U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan earlier this month, China began military maneuvers around the island and responded with trade sanctions on some Taiwanese products and on the veteran Democratic politician itself.
China claims sovereignty over the island and has considered Taiwan a rebellious 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 2019, 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, drug production, clean energy generation, smart cities and 5G communication, among others.” others,” the statement reads.
The Chinese minister reiterated the invitation to Chilean President Gabriel Boric to visit the Asian country in 2023, which “shows the convergence of mutual interests”, the text adds.
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 island’s right to democratic and independent administration from mainland China, and the United States has made a commitment to military aid should Beijing invade Taiwan.
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