“The United States interferes with China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said today, in response to the arrival of a delegation of US lawmakers to Taiwan.
Wang assured that the trip, which takes place twelve days after the controversial passage through Taipei of the president of the Legislative, Nancy Pelosi, is equivalent to “ignoring” the “protests and firm opposition” by China to the United States.
China, which today announced military maneuvers around Taiwan in response to the congressmen’s visit, called on the North American country to adhere to the “one China” principle and treat “the Taiwan issue” with “caution.”
The US delegation, which plans to visit other parts of the Indo-Pacific in addition to Taiwan, is made up of both Republican and Democratic senators and congressmen who, during their two-day stay, will hold meetings with Taiwanese leaders on regional security and trade.
The Chinese spokesman accused “certain US politicians” of “colluding with Taiwan secessionists who challenge the ‘one China’ principle” and warned that these actions “will not succeed.”
China will take measures to “protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Wang warned.
For his part, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian declared today that the Chinese Army continues to “train troops for war” with the aim of “crushing any form of separatist scheme and foreign interference for Taiwan’s independence.”
Pelosi’s visit to Taipei on August 3, branded a “farce” and “deplorable betrayal” by Beijing, was responded by China with live-fire military maneuvers across the Taiwan Strait of an intensity not seen in decades, including the long-range missile launch.
Beijing also imposed sanctions on various imports from the island.
China claims sovereignty over the island and has considered Taiwan a rebellious province since the Kuomintang nationalists withdrew there in 1949 after losing the civil war against the communists.