VivaTaiwan

#VivaTaiwan (lit. '[Long] live Taiwan') is an online campaign triggered by a letter to the members of the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies, sent by the Chinese embassy in the wake of Tsai Ing-wen's second inauguration as the president of Taiwan. The embassy asked the members to refrain from taking part in the ceremony or sending congratulatory messages. The letter was leaked on Twitter by Brazilian deputy Paulo Eduardo Martins, and sparked the Twitter trend and hashtag #VivaTaiwan.[1]

Letter

On 13 May 2020, the Chinese embassy in Brasília sent a letter to the members of the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the National Congress of Brazil.[2] The letter termed Tsai Ing-wen as the "local leader" of Taiwan, and asked the Chamber of Deputies to "educate" its members on the Taiwan issue in accordance with Brazil's commitment to the One-China policy. It also asked the members to refrain from taking part in Tsai's swearing-in ceremony as the President of Taiwan after her victory in the 2020 elections, sending congratulatory messages to Taiwanese authorities or maintaining official contacts with them.[1] The letter was leaked on Twitter on 26 May 2020 by Paulo Eduardo Martins, a Brazilian deputy from the Social Christian Party. The authenticity of the letter was confirmed by the Lusa News Agency.[1] Martins termed it as an "affront", and sent a congratulatory message to Tsai. Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) replied to his tweet, saying that the Taiwanese government and people "sincerely appreciate the friendship and support of Brazil."[3] MOFA spokesperson Joanne Ou thanked Martins for safeguarding democratic values, adding that democracy is a mutual value shared by both Taiwan and Brazil.[4]

Online campaign
Thank you to all of our friends in #Brazil for your kind congratulations, and I hope you are all staying safe & healthy. #VivaTaiwan #VivaBrazil

Tsai Ing-wen[5]

Martins's tweet triggered a Twitter trend, #VivaTaiwan ('Long Live Taiwan'), by Brazilian netizens. It became the top trend globally on 26 May 2020, and led to many tweets in support of the Taiwan independence movement.[3][6] Martins's tweet was retweeted by Brazilian politician Eduardo Bolsonaro.[7]

Chinese response

An article in the Communist Party of China–affiliated tabloid paper Global Times quoted Wu Hongying, director of the Latin American office of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, who termed the campaign as a "trick" by some Brazilian politicians to blame China for the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil, by hyping the Taiwan issue. She also added that it is "doomed to fail" because of strong governmental and people-to-people ties between China and Brazil.[8] Another article in the Global Times justified the Chinese embassy's letter, saying that it is a "basic obligation" of Brazilian parliamentarians to not do anything detrimental to Brazil–China relations. It termed Martins's tweet as attention-seeking and unethical, adding that the campaign's "negative influence" was amplified by Western media.[9]

Diplomatic significance

LSE IDEAS associate Charles Dunst said that the incident marks an end of the non-interventionist Chinese foreign policy.[10] Indian author Sandipan Deb said that the response by Brazilian netizens was a "little samba setback" to the Chinese concept of tianxia.[11]

gollark: Except not really, they only have omnipotence in terms of "can materialize free material goods".
gollark: *Complete* post-scarcity would be, I don't know, the Q.
gollark: People want things, and you can't call it completely post-scarcity unless they can unrestrictedly get those things.
gollark: People might want shinier spaceships to fly around in.
gollark: Warp drive technology might get better, and you'll need designs to fit that.

References
  1. "Deputado brasileiro acusa China de impedir apoio à posse em Taiwan". Notícias ao Minuto (in Portuguese). Lusa. 26 May 2020. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  2. Palki Sharma, ed. (27 March 2020). "#vivaTaiwan: Now, China faces backlash over Taiwan in Brazil". WION.
  3. "Brazilian netizens fight back against CCP thr..." Taiwan News. 26 May 2020. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  4. "MOFA thanks Brazil congressman for leaking China ploy – Taipei Times". Taipei Times. 29 May 2020. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  5. Lu, Yi-hsuan; Xie, Dennis (29 May 2020). "MOFA thanks Brazil congressman for leaking China ploy". Taipei Times. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  6. "#VivaTaiwan？被中國戰狼外交惹火的巴西「台灣萬歲」事件". United Daily News. 26 May 2020. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  7. Flor, Mamela Fiallo (29 May 2020). "Brazil Stands With Taiwan Against Chinese Totalitarianism". PanAm Post. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  8. Sumei, Leng. "Brazilian politicians' tricks to hype Taiwan question doomed to fail: expert". Global Times. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  9. Renping, Shan (27 May 2020). "Facing Western public opinion calmly makes China ideologically stronger – Global Times". www.globaltimes.cn. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  10. Dunst, Charles (2 June 2020). "Welcome to China's new interventionist foreign policy". The Washington Post. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  11. Deb, Sandipan (31 May 2020). "Decode the concept of 'tianxia' to understand China's actions". Livemint. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
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