Zhao Lijian Photo: VCG

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss' declaration that China would be making "a catastrophic miscalculation if it invaded Taiwan" is self-righteous, unjustifiable and completely devoid of common sense, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said on Thursday.

According to The Guardian, Truss said that the NATO's new strategic concept should reference China specifically at Wednesday's NATO summit in Madrid. G7 countries and nations such as Australia should use their "economic weight" to challenge China, she said, adding that countries such as the UK could even rethink their approach to trade with China.

The Chinese Embassy in the UK responded on Wednesday that China firmly opposes and strongly condemns this repeated peddling of the so-called China threat theory and any remarks that violate the one-China principle and interfere in China's internal affairs.

The spokesperson of the Embassy said in a statement that the development of China, with a population of over 1.4 billion people, only creates opportunities for other countries in the world. This is a basic fact and has met international consensus. "Who is wantonly interfering in other countries' internal affairs and creating trouble around the world? One needs only to take a look at the record of the UK and its cohorts in the Middle East and Afghanistan," the statement read.

In addition, the Embassy urged the UK to earnestly observe the one-China principle, to stop any official exchanges and any military link with island of Taiwan and stop lending support to secessionist forces seeking "Taiwan independence," so as to avoid causing serious harm to the China-UK relationship.

"China adheres to the policy of peaceful reunification and the one country, two systems principle and will make every effort to achieve peaceful reunification, at the same time China will never sit idly by in the face of "Taiwan independence" secessionists. Truss' statement lacks common sense and is self-righteous, Zhao responded.

Global Times