China's Consulate General in Houston Sends Letter to US Politician, Asking Him To Drop Support For Taiwan's Democracy

Taiwan democratic elections (photo by Luuva)

On February 19 Henry Zuber, member of the Mississippi House of Representatives, posted on his Facebook page a letter that he had received from the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in Houston. The letter urged him to stop supporting Taiwan and engaging in activities that could threaten Sino-US relations.

Every year Zuber co-signs resolutions regarding Taiwan and meets the Taiwanese Delegation. As he explains: "I hold dear that every man has the God-given right to live under the freedoms of religion/speech regardless of national origin etc."

The Chinese government obviously did not like Zuber's engagement. The letter that the Consulate General sent was politely worded, but it put forward in strong terms the core of Beijing's one-China policy. The letter states:

The Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in Houston ... has the honor to remind of the sensitive topic of Taiwan question in order to avoid misunderstanding or negative impact to our thriving cooperation. Taiwan is an inalienable part of China. Although China is not yet unified, the U.S. Government adheres to the One-China policy, does not support so called "Taiwan independence". The United Nations only accept the People's Republic of China as the sole legal government.

On January 16th, Tsai Ing-wen from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has won the election held in Taiwan, which will bring many uncertainty to the development of cross-Straits relations and pose serious challenge to peace and stability of the Taiwan Straits. The DPP pursued flagrant "Taiwan independence" activities when it was last in power, which landed cross-Straits relations as well as the situation in the Taiwan Straits in Crises. These episodes are still fresh in our memory.

It may be pointed out that no matter how the situation changes in Taiwan, the Chinese government's position on adhering to the One-China principle and opposing "Taiwan independence" will remain unchanged. It is highly appreciated if you could understand and support the One-China principle and align yourself with the U.S. Government. It will safeguard the peace and stability across the Taiwan straits and conforms to the best of U.S. interest [sic!]".

The letter of the Consulate General can be seen as a reaction to the recent electoral triumph of Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party, which opposes the Guomindang and Chinese nationalism.

In recent years, the Beijing government has improved relations with the Guomindang, since the two parties share the same goal of eventual reunification. This led to the high-profile but disastrous visit of Zhang Zhijun, Minister of China's Taiwan Affairs Office, to Taiwan, as well as to the "historic" handshake between China's leader Xi Jinping and his Taiwanese counterpart Ma Ying-jeou.

But instead of bringing the two sides closer together, the CCP-GMD rapprochement backfired, alienating large sectors of the Taiwanese voters and upsetting Beijing's plans for short-term reunification on its own terms.

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