China Warns U.S.: Don’t Play With Fire on Taiwan

Date: 13 April 2021 - 22:21

News ID: ۸۹۱۴۳

BEIJING (Dispatches) -- China told the United States on Tuesday to stop playing with fire over Taiwan and lodged a complaint after Washington issued guidelines that will enable U.S. officials to meet more freely with officials from the island that China claims as its own.
The U.S. State Department’s Friday decision to deepen relations with the self-ruled island came amid stepped-up Chinese military activity around the island in the wake of aggressive American meddling in Taiwan’s affairs.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters they had lodged "stern representations” with the United States.
China urges the United States "not to play with fire on the Taiwan issue, immediately stop any form of U.S.-Taiwan official contacts, cautiously and appropriately handle the matter, and not send wrong signals to Taiwan independence forces so as not to subversively influence and damage Sino-U.S. relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait”, he said.
On Sunday U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States was concerned about China’s actions with regard to Taiwan.
In a written response to Reuters on Blinken’s remarks, China’s Foreign Ministry said the government had the absolute determination to protect the country’s sovereignty.
"Don’t stand on the opposite side of 1.4 billion Chinese people,” it added.
Taiwan is China’s most sensitive territorial and diplomatic issue, and a regular source of Sino-U.S. friction. China has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its sovereignty.
Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced days before the end of former President Donald Trump’s presidency in January that he was lifting restrictions on contacts between U.S. officials and their Taiwanese counterparts.
While Washington officially recognizes Beijing rather than Taipei, like most countries, the United States is Taiwan’s most important supporter and arms seller.
The United States is required by its law to provide the island with the means to defend itself.
China believes the United States is colluding with Taiwan to challenge Beijing and giving support to those who want the island to declare formal independence.
On Tuesday, Taiwan unveiled a new amphibious warfare ship that can be used to land troops.
The 10,600-tonne Yu Shan, named after Taiwan’s tallest mountain, is the latest part of President Tsai Ing-wen’s ambitious program to purportedly modernize the armed forces.