China warned senior US officials not to visit Taiwan, after it was reported that new Speaker of the House McCarthy was planning to visit the island.
“China has always opposed any form of official exchanges between countries with the island of Taiwan,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said at a press conference on January 30, when asked about Chairman information. US House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy may visit Taiwan in the spring.
“We urge certain individuals in the US to abide by the ‘One China’ principle and the three US-China joint statements, not to take actions that damage bilateral relations, erode peace and stability, determine the two sides of the Taiwan Strait,” added Ms. Mao.
Before that, page Punchbowl News On January 23, citing an official familiar with the matter, the Pentagon was preparing for McCarthy to visit the island of Taiwan. The new discussion process is at an “initiation stage” and officials in the administration of President Joe Biden expect the visit to take place in the spring.
Ms. Mao did not specify how China would react if Mr. McCarthy’s visit actually took place.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning at a press conference in Beijing on December 22, 2022. Photo: AFP
Taiwan has always been a hot issue in US-China relations in recent years. China considers Taiwan a province awaiting reunification and has vowed to use force if necessary. The United States does not establish formal relations with Taiwan, but is the main supplier of weapons to the island.
Tensions around Taiwan escalated after Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, visited the island on August 2-3, 2022 while serving as speaker of the US House of Representatives. McCarthy also said at the time that he would visit Taiwan if the Republicans took control of the House of Representatives after the November 2022 midterm elections.
China reacted harshly to Ms. Pelosi’s visit by holding unprecedented large-scale live-fire drills around Taiwan and imposing sanctions on Ms. Pelosi, suspending bilateral cooperation with the US on many areas. important areas.
US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy speaks in Washington, D.C. on January 12. Photo: AFP
At a press conference on January 30, Mao did not answer questions about the internal memo of General Mike Minihan, commander of the US Air Force Command (AMC) revealed on January 27, in which warned about the risk of conflict with China in 2025 related to the Taiwan issue.
Mao reiterated that China will “never give up the use of force” to unify Taiwan, but Beijing hopes to be able to resolve disputes over the island peacefully.
Like Tam (Theo Bloomberg, SCMP)