BEIJING: A Chinese mainland spokeswoman strongly opposed a possible Taiwan-related bill by the United States that aims to bolster the island’s “defense” capabilities against the mainland, saying that any attempt of “Taiwan independence” will never succeed.
The US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is set to review a draft of the Taiwan Policy Act of 2022 on Wednesday, which was described by its sponsors as “the most comprehensive restructuring of US policy toward Taiwan “since the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979.
The bipartisan bill sponsored by US senators Bob Menendez and Lindsey Graham would provide Taiwan with about $4.5 billion in security assistance over the next four years and recognize the island as a “major non-NATO ally”.
The legislation would also allow Taiwan to rename its office in the US from the “Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office” to the “Taiwan Representative Office”.
Zhu Fenglian, the spokeswoman for the State Council’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said at a news conference in Beijing that the Taiwan question is purely China’s internal affair, which brooks no outside interference. The drafting of the Taiwan-related bill by the US lawmakers seriously violates basic norms governing international relations, the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques, she said. “We firmly oppose it.” The ruling Democratic Progressive Party authorities in Taiwan have used every means to persuade some US senators to draft the bill for its attempt of realizing “Taiwan independence”, which will never succeed, she said.
–The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
