TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Members of the European Parliament-Taiwan Friendship Group sent a joint letter to the European Union (EU) foreign policy chief today, saying that the people of Taiwan reject China’s “one country two systems” framework and drew attention to the regional security implications of cross-strait tension, reported CNA.

The letter called on the EU to continue to develop relations with Taiwan.

The letter was in response to Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s (習近平) speech on Jan. 2 which threatened Taiwan to accept unification, and reserved the right to use force to this end. In response, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said that “Taiwan will never accept a ‘one country, two systems’ framework,” and called on the international community to support its democracy against Chinese threats.

The letter was addressed to the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, and was signed by friendship group chairperson Werner Langen, deputy chairperson Andrey Kovatchev, and members Hans Van Baalen and Laima Andrikiene.

The letter said that the “one country two systems” framework has proved to be a failure through its implementation in Hong Kong, and that the majority of Taiwanese people clearly oppose it.

A survey conducted in Taiwan during the first week of 2019 found that 81 percent of respondents reject China’s proposed “one china, two systems” framework, while 55.5 percent agree that there is no shared “consensus” governing cross-strait affairs, referring specifically to the fictitious “1992 consensus.”

The letter called for Mogherini and the EU to pay greater attention to recent developments of China-Taiwan relations, and their implications on regional peace.

In a statement today, Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its sincere gratitude to the support provided by the parliamentary group.