Taipei City: China on Tuesday voiced strong criticism of US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan. In a statement, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, "On 2 August, in disregard of China's strong opposition and serious representations, Speaker of U.S House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi reached China's Taiwan region. This is a serious violation of the one-China principle and the provisions of the three China-US joint communiques."
"It has a severe impact on the political foundation of China-US relations, and seriously infringes upon China's sovereignty and territorial integrity. It gravely undermines peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and sends a seriously wrong signal to the separatist forces for 'Taiwan independence'. China firmly opposes and sternly condemns this, and has made serious demarche and strong protest to the United States," the statement read.
"There is but one-China in the world, Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory, and the Government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China," it further said. This has been clearly recognised by United Nations General Assembly Resolution and 181 countries have established diplomatic relations with China on the basis of the one-China principle, it added.
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In 1979, the United States made a clear commitment in the China-US Joint Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations -- "The United States of America recognises the Government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legal Government of China," it noted, adding that the United States "Congress, as a part of the US Government, is inherently obliged to strictly observe the one-China policy of the US Government and refrain from having any official exchanges with China's Taiwan region".
Terming Pelosi's visit to be "a major political provocation to upgrade US official exchanges with Taiwan", the statement said, "China absolutely does not accept this, and the Chinese people absolutely reject this." Shortly after a plane carrying Nancy Pelosi landed in Taipei city on Tuesday, Pelosi poked an already riled-up China by saying the visit honoured "America’s unwavering commitment to supporting Taiwan’s vibrant Democracy."
The visit comes amid significant opposition from China, who, in recent days, has repeatedly warned the US official from visiting the South East Asian island nation it claims to be its sovereign territory. China, meanwhile, vowed that it will conduct 'targeted military actions' in response to Pelosi's Taiwan visit, reported AFP.
Also read: Ahead of Pelosi's visit, Chinese military releases video of land, sea and air drills
"Our delegation’s visit to Taiwan honors America’s unwavering commitment to supporting Taiwan’s vibrant Democracy. Our discussions with Taiwan leadership reaffirm our support for our partner & promote our shared interests, including advancing a free & open Indo-Pacific region," Pelosi tweeted shortly after her arrival in the country.
"America’s solidarity with the 23 million people of Taiwan is more important today than ever, as the world faces a choice between autocracy and democracy. Our visit is one of several Congressional delegations to Taiwan – and it in no way contradicts longstanding United States policy, guided by the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979, U.S.-China Joint Communiques and the Six Assurances," she further added.
"The United States continues to oppose unilateral efforts to change the status quo" Pelosi also said. Meanwhile, Chinese fighter jets have crossed the Taiwan strait, news agency AFP said, quoting Chinese state media. The visit, notably, comes as the highest-level one by a United States official in the last 25 years. The US on Tuesday asked China not to overreact to the situation. It has also deployed multiple Navy warships to the East of Taiwan ahead of the visit.
