Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian

 
Chinese authorities urged the US to stop official interaction with Taiwan island in any form after US Vice President Kamala Harris was reported to have talked with deputy regional leader of Taiwan Lai Ching-te in Honduras during their participation in the inauguration of President-elect Xiomara Castro.

Media reports said that "US and Taiwan vice presidents" Harris and Lai had a brief talk for about 30 seconds. They spoke about common interests in Central America and the White House's Root Causes Strategy to stem illegal immigration from the region to the US. 
 
Harris noted that they did not discuss China during the conversation, while the island authority said that Lai thanked the US for its "rock solid" support, according to media reports.

Harris previously told the media that she had no plans to meet Lai during her stay in Honduras. The unexpected 30-second conversation was hyped as a "diplomatic breakthrough" by some Taiwan media reports on Friday.  

When asked for remarks on the issue at a routine press conference on Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry Zhao Lijian said that "Taiwan is just a province of China; how come it has a vice president?"   

China always opposes any form of official interaction between the US and Taiwan island, Zhao reiterated. 

He noted that Lai, who called himself a pragmatic "Taiwan secessionist," has made "Taiwan secessionist" speeches on many occasions.

The US should abide by the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiqués, deal with China's stance and concerns seriously, and stop any form of interaction with the island or the sending of any wrong signals, Zhao noted. 

Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson with the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, also urged the US to stop playing with fire on issues related to Taiwan island. 

The Democratic Progressive Party authority colludes with external forces and keeps being provocative about Taiwan secessionism. They take becoming the US' chess piece to contain China as a "diplomatic breakthrough" and stand in opposition to Chinese nationality, Zhu noted.

Any force that tries to seek Taiwan secessionism will be punished severely according to the law, Zhu noted.