Photo taken on July 21, 2019 from Xiangshan Mountain shows the Taipei 101 skyscraper in Taipei, southeast China's Taiwan. Photo:Xinhua

The passage of the Taiwan-related legislation by the US House of Representatives on Wednesday is largely symbolic but demonstrates the US' consistent plots to contain China's development and obstruct the country's reunification by playing the Taiwan card, observers said on Thursday.

The draft bill titled "Taiwan Allies International Protection and Enhancement Initiative Act of 2019," or TAIPEI 2019, was passed with a unanimous vote by the US House on Wednesday.

Zhao Lijian, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said on Thursday that China resolutely opposes the passage of the bill. Zhao said the bill is against the trend as one-China principle is a consensus of the international community. He also urged the US to stop the bill from becoming a law and carefully handle affairs related to Taiwan. 

Such a bullying act is doomed to fail as it aims to reverse the overwhelming trend of severing "diplomatic ties" with the island of Taiwan and switching diplomatic recognition to China based on the one-China principle, and Taiwan people should know that the US always acts in its own interests and the island's benefits are never within the US consideration, Yang Lixian, a research fellow at the Beijing-based research center of cross-Straits relations, told the Global Times on Thursday.

According to the bill, the US government should consider helping Taiwan maintain "allies" around the world, supporting Taiwan's membership in international institutions and engaging in bilateral trade negotiations with the island. 

Phrases used in the text of the bill, including "as appropriate," shows that such a bill can be viewed merely as a move by Congress to pressure the executive branch, which is mainly symbolic, and at best, sends a seemingly supportive message to the self-deceiving island secessionists, Xin Qiang, deputy director of the center for US studies at Fudan University in Shanghai, told the Global Times on Thursday. 

A previous version of the bill was passed by the US Senate in October 2019. Because the House of Representatives slightly altered the content of the bill, the Senate will need to pass it again before it is sent to the US President's desk to become law.

Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, reiterated at a press conference in October 2019 that China resolutely opposes US interference in Taiwan and the country's internal affairs by passing a series of so-called Taiwan-related bills. 

The Taiwan authorities' pursuit of "diplomatic ties" is nothing but a daydream and will never happen, Ma told the media.

Observers also noted that whether talks over a FTA can be held would depend on the executive branch of the government, and the single Congress act will have little effect on the matter.

Xin predicted that the since the idea of the FTA goes against US President Donald Trump's strong protectionist policies, such talks and implementation will not happen any time soon.