As Pelosi’s lands in Taiwan, China warns of ‘severe impact’ on ties with US
‘It has a severe impact on the political foundation of China-US relations, and seriously infringes upon China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity’
BEIJING: China on Tuesday warned that US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan disregarding its stern warnings will have a “severe impact” on bilateral ties and her move “gravely undermines” regional peace and stability, as the official media here reported air and ground movement of troops in the Taiwan Straits.
Pelosi landed in Taipei Tuesday night, according to the television footage shown by US networks. She is the highestranking US official to visit Taiwan in 25 years. After Pelosi arrived in Taiwan, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a strong statement, saying that her visit is a “serious violation of the one-China principle and the provisions of the three ChinaUS joint communiques”.
“It has a severe impact on the political foundation of ChinaUS relations, and seriously infringes upon China's sovereignty and territorial integrity. It gravely undermines peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and sends a seriously wrong signal to the separatist forces for ‘Taiwan independence'. China firmly opposes and sternly condemns this, and has made serious demarche and strong protest to the United States,” it said.
There is but one-China in the world, Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory, and the Government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China, the statement said. This has been clearly recognised by United Nations General Assembly Resolution and 181 countries have established diplomatic relations with China on the basis of the oneChina principle, it said.
“The one-China principle is a universal consensus of the international community and a basic norm in international relations,” it said.
In 1979, the United States made a clear commitment in the China-US Joint Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations -- “The United States of America recognises the Government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legal Government of China,” it said. Dismissing US Secretary Antony Blinken's assertion that US Congress functioned independently from the government, the statement said the US “Congress, as a part of the US Government, is inherently obliged to strictly observe the one-China policy of the US Government and refrain from having any official exchanges with China's Taiwan region”.