China condemns high-level US meeting with Taiwan leader, vows firm response

China’s foreign ministry on Thursday condemned the meeting between US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen in California, state media Xinhua reported.
Tsai met with a delegation of US politicians from the Republican and Democratic parties during a stopover in the United States on Wednesday after visiting Guatemala and Belize, two of Taipei’s dwindling group of official allies.
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“In response to the seriously erroneous acts of collusion between the United States and Taiwan, China will take resolute and effective measures to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the ministry said in a statement published by Xinhua.
Beijing claims Taiwan as its own territory and balks at any official contact Taipei has with other countries.
China has vowed to one day seize it, by force if necessary.
Wednesday’s meeting “gravely violated the one-China principle,” the ministry said, referring to the policy formally recognized by the United States for decades.
“The Taiwan question is at the very core of China’s core interests and the first red line that must not be crossed in China-US relations,” the ministry added.
The Ministry of National Defense also condemned Tsai and McCarthy’s meeting, Xinhua reported.
“We firmly oppose all forms of official interaction between the United States and Taiwan and any visit by leader of the Taiwan authorities to the United States in any name or under whatever pretext,” the ministry said in a statement, according to Xinhua.
“The [People’s Liberation Army] will resolutely safeguard China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as the peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” the ministry added.
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