British Foreign Secretary needs to dust off his history books: China

Beijing: Hitting hard at James Cleverly’s reported statement regarding the Chinese claim on the Taiwan Strait, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said “The British Foreign Secretary clearly needs to dust off his history books”.

Cleverly said in a recent interview that he “fundamentally disagreed” that the Taiwan Strait was a domestic matter for China. He reportedly also insisted that a peaceful resolution to the situation was in “everybody’s interests”.

Asserting that there is only one China in the world and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory, Ning reminded Cleverly of a more than five decades old  China-UK Joint Communiqué on an Exchange of Ambassadors, where she claimed the United Kingdom acknowledged that Taiwan was a province of the People’s Republic of China and recognized the Government of the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal Government of China.

“The one-China principle is the political foundation and prerequisite for the establishment and development of China-UK diplomatic relations,” she said and reiterated that the Taiwan question was purely China’s internal affair at the core of China’s core interests. “Its resolution is a matter for the Chinese. No external force has any right to interfere. It is hoped that the UK side will approach this key matter of principle with a clear head and ample prudence,” she said.

Beijing further stressed that Taiwan’s return to China was an “important component of the post-WWII international order, as is stated in black and white in the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation”.

The one-China principle is a prevailing consensus among the international community and a basic norm in international relations affirmed in Resolution 2758 of the 26th session of the UN General Assembly, Ning said.

Further taking note of a four-day visit of a delegation led by Guatemala President Alejandro Eduardo Giammattei Falla, which arrived in Taipei today, at the invitation of the Taiwanese government, and to reinforce “diplomatic ties” with the island, Ning pointed out that China is the second largest source of imports and the fifth largest destination of exports for Guatemala. She made it clear that by recognizing the one-China principle and growing relations with China, “the fundamental interest” of Guatemala can be served.

The Chinese foreign ministry further referred to statements by “political figures in Guatemala, who indicate that the overwhelming majority of countries recognize that Taiwan is part of China and that it is irrational for Guatemala not to have diplomatic ties with China”.  She also referred to the chair of the Guatemala-China friendship association Pedro Barnoya’s statement that “China’s history has shown everyone that there is only one China in the world. History also shows that none of the attempts to split China will end well”.

– global bihari bureau