US urged to shun Taiwan

BEIJING WANTS AMERICA TO REFUSE PRESIDENT TSAI ENTRY

sympathetic lawmakers.

China’s foreign ministry called on Washington to block any stopover in the United States.

Tsai’s “true intention is self-evident”, it said. “We hope America abides by the principle of the One China policy and the three US-PRC Joint Communiques and does not allow her transit.”

Countries that have formal diplomatic ties with Beijing cannot enjoy such links with Taipei and vice versa.

Both Beijing and Taipei, in principle, consider themselves the only legitimate power in charge of both China and Taiwan.

Beijing further warned against Washington giving an “erroneous signal to ‘Taiwanese independence’ forces”.

Trump’s surprise call with Tsai and subsequent Twitter barrage criticising Chinese military expansions and accusing it of manipulating its exchange rate seemed to have caught Beijing off-guard.

China’s foreign ministry repeatedly deflected or downplayed reporters’ questions on Monday. But by Tuesday, state media were trotting out attacks on Trump as a “diplomatic rookie”.

Yesterday, they emphasised the need for calm, with experts in the often shrill Global Times urging China to “watch and wait” until Trump takes office and not to “play his games”. – AFP