(Bloomberg) — China condemned a visit by Estonian lawmakers to Taiwan last week as a violation of the country’s claim over the island, the latest point of tension between Beijing and the Baltic region.
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A five-member delegation from the foreign affairs committee of Estonia’s parliament made a trip to Taiwan, where they met with President Lai Ching-te and other high-level officials. The group praised Estonia’s improving relations with Taiwan in recent years, saying in a statement that democracies must stand together and warning of the “threat of autocracies.”
The Chinese embassy in Tallinn responded by saying the visit “seriously violates the one-China principle” embodied in the two nations’ bilateral relations. The government in Beijing considers the independently-governed island a rogue province.
Estonian lawmakers should be “prudent in terms of Taiwan question, stop interfering into the internal affairs of China, stop sending wrong signals to ‘Taiwan independence’ forces, so as to safeguard the overall interests of bilateral relations,” the embassy said in a statement on Tuesday.
The volley follows a warning last year after Estonia said it would allow Taiwanese officials to open an office to to develop cultural and economic relations. Lithuania, another Baltic nation, triggered a diplomatic row in 2021 when it allowed a representative trade office to open.
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