Joseph Wu. (Kyodo)

       TAIPEI (Kyodo) -- Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu will visit Slovakia and the Czech Republic, which do not have official ties with the self-ruled island, next week, the Foreign Ministry said on Thursday, immediately drawing a backlash from the mainland government.

       Wu will deliver a keynote speech at a conference organized by a think tank in the Slovakian capital Bratislava on Tuesday and then travel to the Czech capital Prague where he will visit its mayor, Zdenek Hrib, a strong supporter of Taiwan who scrapped his city's sister-city agreement with Beijing in October 2019 over Chinese pressure to recognize the "one China" policy.

       He will also receive a medal from Czech Senate President Milos Vystrcil, who in last year became the highest-level Czech politician to visit democratic Taiwan.

       Wu's planned visit comes at a time when European countries are reconsidering their ties with China amid a sense of caution against its growing influence, while warming up relations with Taiwan due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

       In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin voiced firm opposition to Wu's scheduled visit to the European nations, repeating the country's mantra that Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory.

       Wang called on relevant nations not to "maliciously provoke the one-China principle."

       On Thursday, the European Parliament approved the EU-Taiwan Political Relations and Cooperation report that recommended "advancing all levels of the EU-Taiwan partnership and cooperation."

       The report also stresses the urgent need to launch an "impact assessment, public consultation and scoping exercise" for an EU-Taiwan Bilateral Investment Agreement.

       It expresses grave concern over China's continued military belligerence, urging the European Union to do more to address these tensions and to protect Taiwan's democracy and the island's status as an important EU partner.

       Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Lithuania and Poland have donated some 850,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Taiwan after receiving donation of masks from the island when they were coping with the pandemic.

       Taiwan's chief economic planner, National Development Council Minister Kung Ming-hsin, is leading a 65-strong investment delegation to the first three countries.

       China and Taiwan have been governed separately since they split in 1949 as a result of a civil war. Their relations have deteriorated since independence-leaning Tsai Ing-wen became Taiwan's president in 2016. The mainland considers the island a renegade province.

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