The Chinese Government has condemned the statement made by the US State Department on the election of William Lai as the President of China’s Taiwan region, stressing that it violates the one-China policy recognised by the international community.
The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, through the State Department, on Saturday offered congratulations to Mr. Lai and pledged to work with him to advance shared values and further US interest with Taiwan, a move Beijing sees as support to the separatist Lai.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning, in her remarks on Sunday, said the US State Department’s statement “seriously violates the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiqués, and goes against the US’ own political commitment to maintaining only cultural, commercial, and other unofficial relations with the people of Taiwan.”
She noted that the US State Department statement also sends a gravely wrong signal to the Taiwan independence separatist forces.
The China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said further: “We strongly deplore and firmly oppose this, and have made serious representations to the US side. The Taiwan question is at the very core of China’s core interests and the first red line must not be crossed in China-US relations.
“The one-China principle is a basic norm in international relations, a prevailing consensus among the international community, and the political foundation of China-US relations. China firmly opposes the US having any form of official interaction with Taiwan and interfering in Taiwan affairs in any way or under any pretext.”
