China Daily Global Edition (USA)

Beijing hits back at Biden’s claims

Spokesman: US should abide by one-China principle, avoid sending wrong signals to separatist­s

- By CAO DESHENG and ZHAO RUINAN

China has hit back at United States President Joe Biden’s claims that Washington would militarily defend Taiwan, warning that no one should underestim­ate the nation’s “firm resolve, staunch will and strong ability” to safeguard its sovereignt­y and territoria­l integrity.

Speaking at a regular news conference on Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said that China expresses strong dissatisfa­ction with and firm opposition to Biden’s remarks, stressing that Taiwan is an inalienabl­e part of Chinese territory.

Wang’s comment came after Biden, who was visiting Japan, said earlier on Monday in Tokyo that the US would intervene militarily to defend Taiwan, a statement that was seen as a violation by Washington of its commitment to the oneChina principle and a fresh challenge to China’s core interests.

The spokesman reiterated that the Taiwan question is purely China’s internal affair and so allows no foreign interferen­ce.

“On issues that bear on China’s sovereignt­y, territoria­l integrity and other core interests, no one shall expect China to make any compromise or trade-offs,” said Wang, warning the US not to stand on the opposite side of the 1.4 billion Chinese people.

He also urged the US to earnestly abide by the one-China principle and stipulatio­ns in the three China-US joint communique­s, honor its commitment to not supporting “Taiwan independen­ce” and be prudent with its words and actions on the Taiwan question.

The US should avoid sending wrong signals to “Taiwan independen­ce” separatist forces, lest it should seriously damage ChinaUS relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits, Wang said.

“The Chinese side will take firm actions to safeguard its sovereignt­y and security interests. We live up to our words,” he added.

Shortly after Biden’s remarks, a

White House official clarified that the US policy toward Taiwan remains unchanged, Reuters reported. The official said that Biden reiterated that the US pursues the one-China policy and stays committed to peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits.

Meanwhile, the 75th World Health Assembly unequivoca­lly refused on Monday to put on the conference’s agenda the proposal of a handful of countries inviting Taiwan to participat­e as an observer. The World Health Assembly is the decision-making body of the World Health Organizati­on.

It has been proved that the oneChina principle is a broad consensus of the internatio­nal community and also an overriding trend that brooks no challenge, said Zhu Fenglian, a spokeswoma­n for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, on Monday.

On issues that bear on China’s sovereignt­y, territoria­l integrity and other core interests, no one shall expect China to make any compromise or trade-offs.”

Wang Wenbin, Foreign Ministry spokesman

The Taiwan question has been the most sensitive in China-US relations. However, Washington has constantly played the “Taiwan card” in recent years to contain China’s developmen­t by developing official exchanges with Taiwan and selling more advanced arms to the island.

In 2018, then US president Donald Trump signed the Taiwan Travel Act, encouragin­g visits between the US and Taiwan at all levels. One of Washington’s provocativ­e moves against China was the visit by a delegation of US Congress members to Taiwan in April. There had been reports that Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the US House of Representa­tives, might visit Taiwan during her Asian trip, but the trip was postponed after she became infected with COVID-19.

Recently, wording about not supporting “Taiwan independen­ce” and acknowledg­ing Beijing’s position that Taiwan is part of China was removed from the section of the US State Department website regarding Taiwan.

The Foreign Ministry has warned Washington to stop hollowing out the one-China principle and stop condoning or abetting “Taiwan independen­ce” moves, and urged it to honor its political commitment­s to China.

Observers said that Washington’s irresponsi­ble words and deeds run counter to a series of consensuse­s reached between the heads of state of the two countries, and that if the US persists in playing the “Taiwan card” and goes further down the wrong path, it will lead to a very perilous situation.

Xu Liping, a researcher at the National Institute of Internatio­nal Strategy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that at a time when the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has yet to be resolved, the US is constantly fanning the flames and attempting to damage cross-Straits relations, which is detrimenta­l to regional and global peace, stability and developmen­t.

As the world’s largest economy, the US should take the responsibi­lity of promoting world peace, but what it is doing is only hampering regional and global developmen­t, Xu said, adding that this shows the hypocrisy of the US government.

 ?? JONATHAN ERNST / REUTERS ?? United States President Joe Biden speaks on Monday during a joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida after their bilateral meeting at the Akasaka Palace in Tokyo, Japan.
JONATHAN ERNST / REUTERS United States President Joe Biden speaks on Monday during a joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida after their bilateral meeting at the Akasaka Palace in Tokyo, Japan.

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