Xinhua Commentary: Lithuania will shoot itself in the foot over Taiwan provocation

BEIJING, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- Lithuania recently followed through its treacherous decision to allow the Taiwan authorities to open a "representative office" under the name of "Taiwan" in the country.

Such a blunt provocation against the one-China principle betrays its promise to honor the one-China principle when the European country forged diplomatic ties with Beijing. As the Chinese government has repeatedly warned before, Lithuania will ultimately pay a heavy price for its recklessness.

In the joint communique the two countries signed in 1991 on the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations, Lithuania recognizes "the government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legal government of China and Taiwan as an inalienable part of the Chinese territory." It also promises in black and white the obligation not to establish official relations or engage in official contacts with the Chinese island province.

However, Lithuania has brazenly breached its obligations by challenging the one-China principle and meddling in China's domestic affairs.

It is widely acknowledged that there is only one China and that Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory, and China's sovereignty over Taiwan has been clearly confirmed in a number of international law documents including the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Declaration.

The one-China principle, a universal consensus of the international community, serves as the political foundation of the relations between China and countries worldwide, including Lithuania. The Chinese government has all along opposed countries having diplomatic ties with Beijing allowing the establishment of the so-called "Taiwan representative office."

The Taiwan question concerns China's core interests and brooks no trampling. Any attempt to play tricks with it is a dangerous miscalculation.

Lithuania has gone its own way in defiance of the will of the 1.4 billion Chinese people, the general consensus of the international community and the norms recognized by the vast majority of countries. It is a totally wrong decision to play the "Taiwan card" in attempts to contain China, and Lithuania will eventually shoot itself in the foot.

Seeking "Taiwan independence" can only leads to a dead end. The Taiwan question is purely an internal matter for China, one which brooks no external interference. Soliciting foreign support is a totally misguided attempt that is doomed to fail, and any attempt or conspiracy to create "two Chinas" or a false impression of "one China, one Taiwan" will have no chance of succeeding.

Lithuania should redress its wrong decision and refrain from going too far on the wrong path. Meanwhile, the Taiwan authorities should stop trying to count on foreign forces to split Taiwan from China. This is because the determination of the Chinese government and the Chinese people to realize the great cause of the national reunification will always be unshakable.