Concern as US warships pass through Taiwan Strait

CHINA yesterday said it has expressed concern to the United States after two American warships passed through the Taiwan Strait.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying made the comments at a daily news briefing.

“China has closely followed the passing of US warships through the Taiwan Strait and monitored the whole process,” said Hua.

She said the Taiwan issue concerns the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China and is the most important and sensitive issue in the China-US relationship.

“We urge the US to strictly abide by the three China-US joint communiques and properly handle Taiwan-related issues so as to avoid impairing bilateral relations as well as peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” Hua said.

China also warned that it would “never accept any form of blackmail” after US President Donald Trump said his decision to withdraw from a nuclear pact with Russia was also linked to Beijing’s arsenal.

China is not a signatory to the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which the United States signed with the thenSoviet Union in the 1980s, but Trump said on Monday that Beijing should be included in the accord.

“Now that the United States want to unilaterally withdraw from the treaty, they start to inappropriately speak about other countries,” Hua said. “This approach of shifting the blame on others is utterly unjustifiable and unreasonable.”

She said China had always pursued a defensive national defence policy. “We will never accept any form of blackmail,” Hua said.