Beijing: After ramping up its violation of Taiwan airspace by its People’s Liberation Army aircrafts, China today asked the US to sever “diplomatic relations” and abrogate the “mutual defense treaty” with the Taiwan authorities and withdraw US military forces from Taiwan.
“The US should fully recognize the highly sensitive nature of Taiwan-related issues and the gravely detrimental nature of relevant issues, abide by the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiqués, and stop arms sales to and military ties with Taiwan to avoid seriously damaging China-US relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. China will take all necessary measures to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian told mediapersons here today.
Responding to reports quoting a Pentagon offician that US Special Operations forces have been quietly training troops in Taiwan for months, Lijian reiterated that the one-China principle is the political foundation of China-US relations. He claimed that during the September 10, 2021 phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the US President Joe Biden had made it clear that the United States had no intention to change the one-China policy. “On the Taiwan question, the United States has made clear commitments to China…We urge the US side to earnestly abide by the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques, translate relevant commitments into concrete action, prudently and properly handle Taiwan-related issues, and avoid sending wrong signals to the “Taiwan independence” separatist forces, lest it should seriously damage China-US relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” he said.
Lijian also pointed out that during his meeting with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in Zurich, Switzerland on October 6, Director of China’s Central Foreign Affairs Commission Office, Yang Jiechi, had expounded China’s solemn position on issues related to Taiwan, urging the US side to truly respect China’s sovereignty, security and development interests, abide by the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiqués, and stop using Taiwan-related issues to interfere in China’s internal affairs.
“The US side expressed its adherence to the one-China policy,” Lijian claimed. However, he further expressed Beijing’s grave concern about the incident of October 2, 2021, when a US Navy nuclear-powered submarine USS Connecticut was damaged after it struck an unknown object while submerged in the waters of the Indo-Pacific region. According to media reports, the incident occurred in the waters of the South China Sea. “As the party involved, the US should clarify in specific details what happened, including the exact location of the incident, the US side’s navigation intention, the details of the incident, the object the submarine struck, whether the collision caused a nuclear leak or damaged local marine environment, etc.,” he said. He also stressed stress three points about the incident: “First, the US has long been making trouble in the South China Sea in the name of “freedom of navigation”, which poses a grave threat and major risks for regional peace and stability. This is the root cause of this incident. Second, the US deliberately stalled and concealed the specifics of the incident without transparency and due responsibility. China and other countries surrounding the South China Sea cannot help but ask what truly happened and what the US intention is. Third, we can also see the following from this incident. The US and the UK recently decided to conduct nuclear submarine cooperation with Australia, a non-nuclear weapon state, and flagrantly proliferate nuclear submarines in the Asia-Pacific. This is bound to create nuclear proliferation risks, spark an arms race and undermine efforts to establish a Southeast Asia nuclear-free-zone. The odds of a nuclear incident will also increase dramatically.”
China said the US should abandon the obsolete Cold War zero-sum mentality and narrow geopolitical notions, and stop such erroneous practice that undermine regional peace, stability and development. It also criticized French Senator Alain Richard for referring to Taiwan as a “country”. Lijian said people like Alain Richard “either lack basic respect for and knowledge of norms governing international relations, or attempt to hijack state-to-state relations out of selfish agenda”.
Beijing expressed “strong condemnation and firm opposition” to Richard’s comment. “We hope France can earnestly abide by the one-China principle and avoid sending wrong signals to the “Taiwan independence” forces,” Lijian said.
– global bihari bureau
