BEIJING: China will take firm and strong countermeasures to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian on Monday, warning that the Chinese military will not sit back if U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visits Taiwan.
His remarks came amid the high tensions across the Taiwan Straits. Pelosi’s Asia trip schedule, announced on Sunday, includes Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan with no mention of Taiwan. “The Chinese side has repeatedly made clear to the U.S. side our serious concern over Pelosi’s potential visit to Taiwan and our firm opposition to the visit,” Zhao told a regular news briefing.
“We are fully prepared for any eventuality,” he said, adding that it is the U.S. that has been distorting and hollowing out the one-China principle and making irresponsible remarks on the Taiwan question.
China demands that the United States honor the promise of President Joe Biden that it would not support “Taiwan independence” and should not arrange Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, he stressed. During his phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday, Biden reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to the one-China policy. On the evening of July 28, Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke with U.S. President Joe Biden on the phone at the request of the latter. The two Presidents had a candid communication and exchange on China-U.S. relations and issues of interest. President Xi pointed out that in the world today, the trends of turbulence and transformation are evolving, and deficits in development and security are looming large. Faced with a world of change and disorder, the international community and the people around the world expect China and the U.S. to take the lead in upholding world peace and security and in promoting global development and prosperity. This is the responsibility of China and the U.S. as two major countries.
President Xi underscored that to approach and define China-U.S. relations in terms of strategic competition and view China as the primary rival and the most serious long-term challenge would be misperceiving China-U.S. relations and misreading China’s development, and would mislead the people of the two countries and the international community.
The two sides need to maintain communication at all levels and make good use of existing channels to promote bilateral cooperation. Recognizing the many challenges facing the global economy, President Xi underscored the need for China and the U.S. to maintain communication on such important issues as coordinating macroeconomic policies, keeping global industrial and supply chains stable, and protecting global energy and food security.
–The Daily Mail-CGTN news exchange item
