A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson urged the United States to earnestly abide by its commitments of not using Taiwan as a tool to contain China, and stop hollowing out the one-China principle. Spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks at a daily press briefing in response to a query about U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's "congratulations" to Taiwan region's new leader. What the United States has done seriously violates the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiques, and breaches its political commitment to maintaining only cultural, commercial, and other unofficial relations with the Taiwan region. This sends a seriously wrong signal to "Taiwan independence" separatist forces. China deplores and opposes it, and has made serious representations to the United States, Wang said. There is but one China in the world. Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory.

The Taiwan question is at the very core of China's core interests and is the first red line that must not be crossed in China-U.S. relations, he stressed. "China firmly opposes official interaction in any form between Taiwan and the United States and opposes U.S. interference in Taiwan affairs in any form or under any pretext," the spokesperson said. China urges the United States to correct its wrongdoing at once, act on President Joe Biden's commitment of not supporting "Taiwan independence," "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan" and not using Taiwan as a tool to contain China, stop fudging and hollowing out the one-China principle, stop emboldening and supporting "Taiwan independence" separatist forces in any form and stop disrupting peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, Wang said. "Taiwan independence" leads nowhere and anyone who connives at and supports "Taiwan independence" is doomed to failure. No external interference can hold back the trend toward China's reunification.

Any attempt to challenge the one-China principle and endanger China's national sovereignty and territorial integrity will be met with China's resolute response, he added. Recently, Taiwan's "foreign affairs department" issued a statement, protesting the mainland's condemnation over the Taiwan authorities' bribery of Guatemalan leaders and officials in exchange for political support. In response to a related query, Wang said the facts and evidence on the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities' "dollar diplomacy" with Guatemala are clear and solid. Guatemala's former president openly admitted that he had received bribery from the Taiwan authorities in exchange for maintaining so-called "diplomatic relations" with Taiwan, he said, adding that last year, Taiwan's hospital project in Guatemala was involved in a corruption case. Relevant Guatemalan officials were put into jail.

"This is just one example of the Taiwan authorities' 'dollar diplomacy.' No matter how angrily they protest or try to deny it, the fact that they sought political support through 'dollar diplomacy' will not change," Wang noted. Around the world, 183 countries have established diplomatic ties with China. That proves the DPP authorities' reckless pursuit of "Taiwan independence" and secession to be futile and self-deceptive. Whatever the DPP authorities do, it will not shake the one-China principle, and will not hinder the unstoppable trend toward China's reunification, Wang said. "We hope that Guatemala and the very few other countries will come to recognize where the trend leads and make the right decision soon," he added.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan