MOFA response to false claims regarding Taiwan in joint statement between PRC and Azerbaijan

April 24, 2025

Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev visited China from April 22 to 24. Following a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on April 23, the two sides issued a joint statement on the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership. Among other spurious content, the statement falsely claimed that Taiwan was an inalienable part of Chinese territory.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) strongly condemns the Chinese government for continuing to issue preposterous pronouncements that aim to undermine Taiwan's sovereignty on the international stage. It also expresses deep regret at the Azerbaijani government's submission to, and compliance with, authoritarian China.

MOFA reaffirms that the Republic of China (Taiwan) is an independent, sovereign country and that neither the ROC (Taiwan) nor the Chinese Communist Party-governed People's Republic of China is subordinate to the other. No statement intended to distort Taiwan's sovereign status or undermine international peace and stability can alter the internationally recognized status quo across the Taiwan Strait.

MOFA calls on the international community to recognize China's authoritarian nature, as well as its efforts to deceitfully frame the issue of Taiwan as being a domestic matter and block international support for Taiwan. It also urges the international community to continue to respond with concrete action and clearly oppose China's malicious attempts to alter the status quo across the Taiwan Strait so as to help jointly maintain peace, stability, and prosperity across the Taiwan Strait and throughout the Indo-Pacific region.