The US must stop supplying Taiwan with weapons, the Chinese embassy in Washington has stated, adding that Beijing reserves the right to respond in case of foreign meddling in the situation on the island. Beijing considers Taipei an inalienable part of its territory and a breakaway province that must one day be reunited with the mainland.
“The US must abide by the ‘One China Principle’ and the provisions of the three joint Sino-US communiqués; cease their official interactions and military cooperation with Taiwan, stop arms sales to the island, and take concrete measures to fulfil its obligation not to support ‘Taiwan independence’,” the embassy’s spokesperson said.
Embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu said Beijing reserves the right to take all necessary steps to respond to meddling by foreign forces and a “bunch of separatists” in the process of the island’s re-unification with the mainland.
Liu stressed that Beijing will spare no effort to achieve Taiwan’s unification with China peacefully. Previously, the Chinese Defence Ministry stated that the country was committed to a peaceful process of the island’s “return”, but will not “tolerate [its] independence”.
At the same time, the embassy spokesman dismissed attempts to draw parallels between the situation in Ukraine and the Taiwan issue.
“The US and Taiwan have colluded, and some people deliberately draw a parallel between Taiwan and Ukraine, despite the fact that these are two fundamentally different cases. The goal of such comparisons is to mislead the public and to profit from it”, Liu said.
Liu noted that a new wave of tensions had emerged in the Taiwan Strait, rooted in bids by Taiwanese authorities to secure help from the US and in Washington’s attempts to use the island to “contain China”.
19 April, 18:47 GMT
Despite not having any formal relations, Taiwan signed a contract with the US in 2019 to buy various weaponry, military drones, war planes and military equipment worth $17 billion. Beijing strongly objected the contract and repeatedly urged Washington to avoid provocations around Taiwan and adhere to the “one China principle”.
However, according to media reports, three years after the contract’s signing, the US still has not shipped even one fifth of what Taiwan ordered. The delay was reportedly first blamed on COVID-19 pandemic disruptions, but was later prolonged due to Washington shifting its focus to arming Ukraine.