Photo: China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The Chinese government firmly opposes and protests against the "representative office" established in Lithuania by the Taiwan island, which severely violates the one-China principle, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Thursday night. China will take all necessary measures to safeguard its sovereignty and Lithuania will bear all the consequences by its own.

Such attempt of creating "one China, one Taiwan" flagrantly violates the one-China principle, abandons Lithuania's political commitment in the communiqué on the establishment of diplomatic relations between Lithuania and China, undermines China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and grossly interferes in China's internal affairs.

There is only one China in the world and Taiwan is an inalienable part of it. The government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China.

China urges Lithuania to correct its wrong decisions immediately. The Taiwan authorities' "secession" attempts to coerce foreign countries are doomed to fail, the spokesperson said.

The island opened its so-called representative office in Lithuania on Thursday, a provocative move that has been widely criticized. Experts said earlier that the fact that Taiwan is used in the naming of the new mission instead of the normal reference of Taipei shows the malicious intentions of the island's separatist forces and the Lithuanian government as this goes against the one-China principle.

Zhang Ming, Head of the Chinese Mission to the EU, cited the commitment made by European Economic Community Commission (EEC) official Christopher Soames in 1975 when China and the EEC agreed that all EEC members should recognize the People's Republic China's government and accept its stance on the Taiwan question.

In accordance with this stance, the EEC should not maintain any formal relations with Taiwan nor conclude any agreement. Such a commitment is still legally bounding for EU members today, and European countries should fulfill their promises, the Chinese official said.  

Some people may think playing the "Taiwan card" would damage China's interests, and maybe it could be a good tactic, but such conduct won't change the fact that the island belongs to China. It will only strengthen the determination of the Chinese people in safeguarding sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as achieving reunification, the Chinese diplomat said.