China warns US over Taiwan

Beijing, Apr 14 (EFE).- China warned the United States to stop sending “erroneous signals” to Taiwan’s pro-independence forces on Wednesday, coinciding with the arrival of three former senior American officials on the island.

Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesman for the Beijing office that handles matters related to the democratically ruled island, said China was strongly opposed to the US playing the Taiwan card and sending erroneous signals to them.

He added that they were opposed to any official interaction between Taiwan and the US, and that anything related to the island was China’s internal matter and external forces would not be allowed to interfere in it.

China urged the US to respect the “one-China principle” – implying Taiwan as a part of China – and handle the issue with Taipei in a prudent and appropriate manner.

Moreover, Ma warned Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party against using the US to seek “independence” and that using force to achieve its ends would only lead to disaster for the island.

The warning by Beijing comes on the same day that former US senator Chris Dodd and former deputy secretaries of state, Richard Armitage and James Steinberg, were scheduled to arrive in Taiwan.

Taiwan is a key point of friction between Beijing and Washington.

On Tuesday, the Taiwanese defense ministry reported the incursion of five Chinese military aircrafts into the southwestern part of its Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).

This was the 11th such incursion so far this month. The largest incursion this year occurred on Apr.12, when 25 Chinese aircrafts entered Taiwan’s ADIZ.

Tensions between Beijing and Taipei increased considerably during former US President Donald Trump’s tenure, which prioritized strengthening relations with Taiwan, including arms sales, despite Washington having broken relations with the island in favor of China in 1979.

Taiwan has been governed autonomously since 1949 – when Kuomintang nationalists took refuge on the island after losing the civil war against the Communists – although Beijing claims sovereignty over it and has not ruled out the use of force to recover it. EFE

jt/sc