MOFA protests Brazil envoy's 'Taiwan is part of China' remarks

Taipei, April 13 (CNA) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) protested to Brazil's top envoy to Taiwan after he reiterated in a recent interview that his government considers Taiwan to be part of the People's Republic of China (PRC).

"MOFA expressed strong dissatisfaction over Director Luís Cláudio Villafañe Gomes Santos' untrue and inappropriate remarks," the ministry said in a statement.

MOFA reiterated that the Republic of China (ROC), Taiwan's formal designation, is an independent and sovereign nation, and that neither the ROC nor the PRC is subordinate to the other, adding that these are objective facts widely recognized internationally.

The statement came after the head of the Commercial Office of Brazil to Taipei, which functions as Brazil's de facto embassy in the absence of official diplomatic ties, made the remarks in a Chinese-language interview published Sunday by online news outlet Up Media.

In the interview, the representative was asked whether his work in Taipei had been affected by a November 2024 joint statement issued by the PRC and Brazil following President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's visit, which described Taiwan as part of the PRC.

In that statement, Brazil reaffirmed its adherence to the "one China" principle, recognizing that there is only one China in the world and that Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory. It also stated that the PRC government is the sole legal government representing all of China.

Santos told Up Media that Brazil has maintained this position since it severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favor of Beijing in 1974.

He added that Brazil does not recognize Taiwan as an independent country, in line with the position of most countries worldwide.