China: “The Taiwan issue is an internal Chinese affair”
China accused the United States of sending “very dangerous and wrong signals” to Taiwan after the US Secretary of State told his Chinese counterpart on Friday that maintaining peace and stability in Taiwan is of paramount importance.
A senior US administration official told reporters that Taiwan was the centerpiece of the 90-minute “direct and honest” talks between US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and China’s Wang Yi.
On the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York.
“For our part, the foreign minister made it clear that it is very important to maintain peace and stability across the straits, in accordance with the one-China policy that we have adhered to for a long time and has not changed,” the official added.
In a statement about the meeting, China’s Foreign Ministry said the United States was sending “very wrong and dangerous signals” about Taiwan, and that the more Taiwan independence activity was, the less likely a peaceful settlement would be.
“The Taiwan issue is an internal Chinese affair and the United States has no right to interfere in the way it is used to solve it,” the ministry quoted Wang as saying.
Tensions over Taiwan escalated after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan and an explicit pledge by US President Joe Biden to defend the self-ruled island.
The meeting comes days after Biden said US forces would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion, prompting an angry reaction from China, which said this sent the wrong signal to those seeking Taiwan independence.
It was the latest time that Biden bypassed a long-standing US “strategic ambiguity” policy on Taiwan that would not make clear whether Washington would respond militarily to an attack on Taiwan.
His comments were also the clearest to date about the commitment of US forces to defend the island, although the White House has insisted that its policy on Taiwan has not changed.
In a phone call with Biden in July, Chinese leader Xi Jinping warned, “Those who play with fire will perish with it.”
After Pelosi’s solidarity visit to Taipei early last month, China deployed dozens of planes and launched missiles near the island.
The State Department said earlier that Blinken’s meeting with Wang was part of US efforts to “maintain open lines of communication and manage competition responsibly.”
The senior official said Blinken reiterated Washington’s willingness to “cooperate with China on matters of global concern.”
The official added that Blinken also “highlighted the repercussions” if China provided material support for Russia’s attack on Ukraine or evaded sanctions.
US officials have said in the past that they have seen no evidence of China providing such support.
Taiwan’s government strongly opposes China’s claims to sovereignty and says only the island’s 23 million residents can decide its future.
China considers Taiwan a province. Beijing has long vowed to bring Taiwan under its control and has not ruled out the use of force to do so.
