Beijing expressed its condemnation of the visit “of a troublemaker” who “seriously” undermines territorial integrity
MADRID, 16 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The spokesman for the United States Department of State, Vedant Patel, has assured that there is no reason for China to be concerned about the stopover made in the United States by the Taiwanese vice president, William Lai Ching Te, before visiting Paraguay.
“There is no reason for Beijing to turn this transit, which is consistent with longstanding US policy and practice, into any kind of pretext for coercion or any kind of provocative activity. We do not intend to change the status quo. Such transits are consistent with our ‘one China’ policy, and will continue to be so,” Patel said during a press conference.
China’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Sunday that it “strongly opposes any form of interaction between the United States and Taiwan,” referring to the scale made by the Taiwanese vice president.
And it is that the Chinese government has alleged that, under the pretext of making a stopover, the authorities of the United States and those of Taiwan have made “arrangements” so that the vice president of the island could participate in political activities, and has warned that the Taiwan issue is a “red line” that “must not be crossed”.
The escalation of tensions between these countries began with the trip to the island of the then president of the United States House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, in August of last year, and the situation has worsened after the visit of the president of Taiwan, Tsai Ing Wen, to the North American country, where he met several US congressmen despite warnings from Beijing.
Taiwan has had an independent government since 1949, but China considers the territory under its sovereignty and its fundamental policy towards the island is peaceful reunification under the “one country, two systems” principle, although it does not rule out the use of force before “independence attempts”.
