ISTANBUL
\nVowing \u201ccountermeasures,\u201d China on Wednesday said any meeting between Taiwan\u2019s President Tsai Ing-wen and the US official during the former\u2019s \u201ctransit\u201d to central America \u201cundermines peace across Taiwan Strait.\u201d
\nIf Tsai contacts US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, \u201cit will be another provocation that seriously violates the one-China principle and undermines China\u2019s sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,\u201d said Zhu Fenglian, spokeswoman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council.
\nZhu said China \u201cfirmly opposes Tsai Ing-wen\u2019s planned \u2018transit\u2019 visit to the US,\u201d a transcript of her press briefing read.
\nBeijing will \u201ctake resolute countermeasures\u201d against such an event, she added.
\nTsai, 66, left the capital Taipei for a 10-day trip to Central America today.
\n\u201cThrough this visit, I will express my gratitude to diplomatic partners for their support of Taiwan,\u201d said Tsai at Taoyuan International Airport in Taipei before flying out of the island nation.
\nReports have claimed that the president of the island nation may meet McCarthy in California after she returns from Guatemala and Belize at the end of her trip.
\nTsai will make her first stopover in New York before flying down south to central America.
\n\u201cThe \u2018transit\u2019 by the Taiwan leader is essentially a provocative act of \u2018relying on the United States to seek independence,\u2019 and the US side is urged to strictly abide by the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques, and take concrete actions to fulfill the solemn commitment of not supporting \u2018Taiwan independence\u2019,\u201d Chinese public broadcaster CGTN quoted Zhu.
\nChina considers Taiwan a \u201cbreakaway province\u201d while Taipei has insisted on its independence since 1949.
\nBeijing has vehemently opposed any official contact between Washington and Taipei.
\n\u2018Taiwan trouble\u2019
\nCalling out Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen\u2019s \u201ctransit\u201d through the US towards central America, the Chinese Foreign Ministry Wednesday charged the US with \u201ccreating\u201d trouble by \u201csupporting secessionists.\u201d
\n\u201cThe true intention of the regional leader of Taiwan\u2019s transit in the US is to advocate for \u2018Taiwan independence\u2019,\u201d said Mao Ning, spokeswoman for China\u2019s Foreign Ministry.
\nMao was responding to the Taiwan president\u2019s 10-day trip to central America which begins today.
\n\u201cPast mistakes can\u2019t excuse today\u2019s mistakes. It\u2019s not China that is overreacting but the US that connives and supports secessionists to create trouble,\u201d Mao said, according to the Chinese daily Global Times.
\n\u201cChina firmly opposes any form of official contact between the US and Taiwan, opposes the transit of Taiwan regional leader in the US in any excuse and pretext, and opposes any form of contact between the US and DPP authorities, which violates the one-China principle,\u201d said the Chinese official, referring to island nation\u2019s ruling Democratic Progressive Party.
\nTsai told reporters at the airport her trip aims to \u201cdemonstrate Taiwan\u2019s determination to deepen exchanges with its Central American allies.\u201d
\nHer delegation would also \u201cexplore possibilities for further cooperation with Taiwan\u2019s allies and partners in the areas of agriculture, public health, women\u2019s empowerment, the digital economy, and supply chain security,\u201d she added.
\nThe unannounced trip to Taiwan by McCarthy\u2019s predecessor Nancy Pelosi last August triggered an unprecedented response from China which launched military operations around Taiwan, an island nation of around 24 million sitting across the Taiwan Strait, in southern mainland China.
\nChina sent 16 aircraft and four vessels around Taiwan on Wednesday as Tsai flew out for her first overseas trip in the past three years as the COVID-19 pandemic had forced border closures.
\nTaiwan\u2019s Defense Ministry said 11 of the Chinese aircraft had entered the southwest Air Defense Identification Zone which Beijing does not recognize.
\nThe US has supplied arms and weaponry to Taiwan worth billions of dollars in recent years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISTANBUL Vowing \u201ccountermeasures,\u201d China on Wednesday said any meeting between Taiwan\u2019s President Tsai Ing-wen and the US official during the former\u2019s \u201ctransit\u201d to central America \u201cundermines peace across Taiwan Strait.\u201d If Tsai contacts US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, \u201cit will be another provocation that seriously violates the one-China principle and undermines China\u2019s sovereignty and territorial […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":322676,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-322666","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n