2024-01-14 09:24:19
The Chinese Government presented a formal protest to the United States over the State Department’s reaction to the election results in Taiwan, in which the head of the department, Antony Blinken, congratulated the winner, the ruling party Lai Ching-te, and said that looks forward to working with him and promoting the long-standing “unofficial” bilateral relationship.
“The US State Department issued a statement on the elections in the Chinese province of Taiwan that seriously violated the ‘one China’ principle and the three joint communiqués between China and the US,” he criticized today in a note from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the US statements have “seriously violated the US political commitment to maintain only unofficial cultural, commercial and other relations with the Taiwan region and have sent the wrong signal to separatist forces seeking the independence” of the island.
“China is very dissatisfied with what happened. The Taiwanese issue is at the center of China’s interests and is the first red line that cannot be crossed in relations with the United States,” the statement continued.
“The Chinese side will always oppose any form of official exchange between the US and Taiwan and the US interfering in Taiwanese affairs in any way and under any pretext,” underlines the official note. In addition, the Chinese Ministry The Foreign Ministry urges Washington not to try to use the Taiwan issue “as a tool to contain China” and to cut all official contact with Taipei.
On Saturday, Blinken congratulated Lai on his victory in a statement in which he also noted that the US is committed to “peace and stability” in the region. “We look forward to working with Lai (…) and promoting our long-standing unofficial relationship, in line with the one-China policy,” the diplomat stressed.
Hours later, US President Joe Biden reiterated his country’s opposition to Taiwan’s eventual independence when asked in Washington by reporters regarding the results of the Taiwanese elections.
The Taiwanese issue is one of the main points of friction between Beijing and Washington, since the US is the island’s main arms supplier and it is assumed that it would defend it in the event of a conflict with China.
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