Sutirtho Patranobis
Beijing: China on Thursday “condemned” the US for arranging Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s transit through the country, saying it “firmly opposes” any form of official interaction between Washington and Taipei.
“We firmly oppose any visit by leader of the Taiwan region to the US in any name or under whatever pretext, and we firmly oppose the US government having any form of official contact with the Taiwan region,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Thursday, referring to the self-ruled island that Beijing claims as a breakaway territory.
“In disregard of China’s strong demarches and repeated warnings, the US insisted on arranging the so-called “transit” for Tsai Ing-wen to go to the US. China strongly protests and condemns that,” Mao said.
Mao added that the US and Taiwan “made arrangements for Tsai to engage in political activities” in the US and “framed” it as a transit to upgrade official exchanges and substantive relations with Taiwan.
The visit, according to Mao “seriously violates the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques” and “gravely undermines” China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and sends a seriously wrong message to “Taiwan independence” separatists.
Blaming Washington and Taipei, Mao said the “fundamental cause of the new round of tensions in the Taiwan Strait is the Taiwan authorities’ repeated attempt to solicit US support for “Taiwan independence” and the fact that some in the US intend to use Taiwan to contain China”.
China has lately piled up diplomatic and military pressure on Taiwan, which Beijing says could be merged by force if necessary.
Just days ago, China poached the Central American country of Honduras from among Taiwan’s handful of formal allies leaving Taipei with only 13 countries that recognise it as a sovereign state.
At Thursday’s presser, Mao said: “We welcome (Honduran) President Xiomara Castro to visit China at an early date to blueprint the future of bilateral relations with President Xi Jinping.”
“China stands ready to step up high-level exchange with the Honduran side, enhance political mutual trust and mutual understanding, and advance exchange and cooperation in various fields in the spirit of equality and win-win cooperation.”
