BEIJING: China has lodged a solemn representation to the US concerning the plan of Taiwan separatist William Lai Ching-te to travel to Paraguay and transit through the US. China firmly opposes any form of official interaction between the US and the island, Mao Ning, spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, told a routine press conference on Monday.
“We firmly oppose any visit by Taiwan separatists to the US in any name or under whatever pretext, and we firmly oppose the US’ conniving and supporting of Taiwan separatists and their separatism activities in any form,” Mao said.
Mao said the Taiwan question is the very core of China’s core interests, the first red line that must not be crossed in the relationship between China and the US.
We urged the US to abide by the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques, act on its commitment of not supporting “Taiwan independence,” stop all forms of official interaction with Taiwan island, stop upgrading its substantive exchanges with the island, and stop sending wrong messages to “Taiwan independence” separatists, Mao pointed out.
China will continue to closely follow the situation and resolutely safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity, Mao noted.
On the other side. In an attempt to revive climate talks which were stalled for years after a US official’s visit to Taiwan, the Biden administration’s climate envoy John Kerry met with his Chinese counterpart Monday and discussed carbon emission for four hours, as the world is witnessing record temperatures and heatwaves.Climate diplomacy suffered a stall after the then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan — which China considers its territory — infuriating Beijing.
A former secretary of state under former US president Obama enjoyed close and consistent relations with China despite the differences between both countries on a number of issues.
According to Chinese media, Kerry met his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua for four hours of talks in Beijing Monday.”
“Xie Zhenhua, China’s special envoy for climate change affairs, concluded his talks with John Kerry, the special envoy of the US president for climate issues, which lasted for around four hours,” broadcaster CCTV said.
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told CNN Sunday that Kerry would press Beijing not to “hide behind any kind of claim that they are a developing nation” in order to slow-roll efforts to cut emissions. –Agencies
