‘Taiwan misusing trade status in Nigeria’

Stakeholders in foreign affairs and international politics have accused Taiwan of misusing its trade status in Nigeria to undermine the One-China policy in the country. The stakeholders who spoke during a press parley yesterday in Abuja, said Taiwan was making moves to create the impression that it is an independent country. They insisted that Taiwan […]

Stakeholders in foreign affairs and international politics have accused Taiwan of misusing its trade status in Nigeria to undermine the One-China policy in the country.

The stakeholders who spoke during a press parley yesterday in Abuja, said Taiwan was making moves to create the impression that it is an independent country.

They insisted that Taiwan can’t seek bilateral relations with political institutions in Nigeria.

Speaking during the event, the Director for Centre for China Studies, Charles Onunaju, said Nigeria only allowed Taiwan to have a trade office in Lagos because it doesn’t recognize it as a country.

“But what we have seen in recent time is continuous abuse of this privilege. We’ve seen and read the Taiwan trade representative making argument on that and he is even asking Nigeria to renegotiate the pact and trying to organise meetings with state institutions, which is an abuse of the status of Taiwan as a strictly trade office,” he said.

He said there is no diplomatic ties with Taiwan as it is a breakaway province of China, stressing that the mainland had always said it would bring it back to its fold in the future.

While stating that Taiwan’s separatist forces had declared independence from China with the help of some foreign forces in order to undermine China’s national sovereignty, he said China would forcefully resist such a move.

“So, it will never be an aggression. It will be forceful resistance and removal, and putting down such opponent there. And I think every sovereign state will necessitate such a move to assert its territorial integrity, its sovereignty, which is at the heart of contemporary statehood.

 

“So in my view, there will never be an incident or occasion where China will invade Taiwan. These are one people. Just like Nigerian sovereignty is non-negotiable, that is also how China’s national sovereignty is non-negotiable, with Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau.”

On his part, Head of the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Abuja and Director, Centre for Contemporary China-Africa Research, Prof Sheriff Ghali Ibrahim, said Nigeria has historically recognised China as friendly country and such position won’t be jettisoned despite recent overtures by Taiwan.

He urged Taiwan to stick with the Resolution 2758 of the United Nations that recognised the People’s Republic of China.