US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Photo: VCG

 
China expressed firm opposition to and strongly condemned the decision by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to ease restrictions governing US diplomats and other officials’ dealings with officials from the island of Taiwan, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Monday.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the comments during a regular press conference on Monday, in response to media reports that Pompeo said Saturday that the US would ease restrictions on interactions between American officials and those from the island of Taiwan.

“Executive branch agencies should consider all ‘contact guidelines’ regarding relations with Taiwan previously issued by the Department of State under authorities delegated to the Secretary of State to be null and void,” Pompeo said in a statement, the New York Times reported.
 
Zhao stressed that there is only one China in the world, Taiwan is an unalienable part of China and the government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China. “It is a basic fact that is acknowledged by the international community, and is part of the basic norm of international relations.”

Zhao pointed out that the US government has made a solemn promise on the Taiwan question. On December 16, 1978, in the Joint Communiqué on the establishment of diplomatic relations, the US recognized the government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legal government of China, and the US should maintain only cultural, commercial and other nongovernmental relations with Taiwan.

The US should earnestly fulfill its promises and must not go against or change its words under any excuses, Zhao urged.

The US’ so-called Taiwan Relations Act violates the one-China principle and three joint communiqués between the Chinese and US governments, and China has firmly opposed the unilateral bill from the very beginning, Zhao said.

Any acts that harm China’s core interests will be faced with China’s resolute retaliation, and cannot possibly succeed, the spokesperson said.

The Taiwan question is the most sensitive and important core issue in China-US relations, and the one-China principle is the political basis for China-US relations and the precondition for the establishment and development of diplomatic relations between the two sides, Zhao said.

We urge the US to fulfill the series of promises it has made, and immediately stop any words and acts of enhancing its relations and military connections with the island of Taiwan. “We advise Pompeo and the like to stop manipulating Taiwan-related issues and stop taking the opposite and wrong path, otherwise they will be severely punished by history.”

Global Times