Mike Pompeo said: “Taiwan is not part of China”. (FILE)
China will retaliate against any move that undermines its fundamental interests, its foreign ministry said on Friday after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Taiwan “is not part of China.”
China calls Taiwan the most sensitive and important issue in its relations with the United States and has been angered by the Trump administration’s increased support for the island claimed by China but democratically governed, such as sales of ‘weapons.
Speaking in an interview with US radio on Thursday, Pompeo said, “Taiwan is not part of China.”
“This was recognized with the work the Reagan administration did to define the policies that the United States has now adhered to for three and a half decades,” he said.
The United States is required by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself and only officially recognizes the Chinese position that Taiwan is part of it, rather than explicitly acknowledging China’s claims.
Speaking in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Taiwan is an inalienable part of China and Pompeo is further damaging Sino-US relations.
“We solemnly say to Pompeo and his ilk, that any behavior which undermines the fundamental interests of China and interferes with the internal affairs of China will be the object of a resolute counterattack on the part of China.” , he said, without giving more details.
China has imposed sanctions on US companies selling weapons to Taiwan and has flown fighter jets near the island when senior US officials visited Taipei this year.
The defeated government of the Republic of China fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war at the hands of the Communists, who founded the People’s Republic of China.
Taiwan Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou thanked Pompeo for his support.
“The Republic of China in Taiwan is a sovereign and independent country and is not part of the People’s Republic of China. This is a fact and the current situation,” she said.
Taiwanese officials will travel to Washington next week for economic talks, which have also annoyed Beijing.
(This story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
