US hypocrisy on Taiwan question Illustration: Carlos Latuff

China sternly warns the US not to act rashly or create a bigger crisis, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday, stressing that those who offend China will be punished. 

The ministry made the stern warning in response to US Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell's latest comments over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's Taiwan visit.

Wang Wenbin, spokesperson of Chinese Foreign Ministry, said at Wednesday's routine briefing that the relevant remarks made by the US senior official completely distorted black and white and fully exposed the US bandit logic and the approach of pursing power.

The farce created by Pelosi will by no means affect the historical trend of Taiwan's return to the motherland, nor will it in the slightest harm the international consensus on the one-China principle, nor will it stop the historical process of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. The Chinese people are not afraid of evil spirits and unswervingly defend their core interests, Wang said. 

The principle of respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity in international relations will become a scrap of paper, all kinds of separatists and extremist forces will intensify and the hard-won peace and stability of the region will be seriously undermined if China does not resolutely oppose the US reckless, irresponsible and irrational actions, Wang said.

More than 170 countries, including 20 heads of state, seven deputy heads of state, nine heads of government, foreign ministers of about 60 countries and more than 10 international organizations such as the UN, have expressed their commitment to the one-China principle and opposition to US provocations, according to Wang. 

Campbell on Friday said that China has "overreacted" to Pelosi's visit and used it as a pretext to try to "change the status quo" in the Taiwan Straits, Reuters reported. 

He said the US would conduct standard air and maritime transits through the Taiwan Straits in the coming weeks, and that it would announce an "ambitious road map" for trade negotiations with Taiwan island in the coming days, according to Reuters. 
The status quo across the Taiwan Straits, which has remained unchanged for decades, has indeed been broken, not by China but by the US and Taiwan secessionist forces, Wang said. 

The US turned a deaf ear to China's repeated warning over Pelosi's visit and insisted on going its own way. Pelosi's move severely damaged China's core interests, and China of course should give a firm response and the US must bear all the consequences, Wang said, noting that the US should not be surprised as China warned it in advance and meant what it said. 

China once again urges the US to abide by the basic norms governing international relations of respecting other countries' sovereignty and territorial integrity and non-interference in their internal affairs, to stop words and deeds that undermine China's core interests and to create necessary conditions for China-US cooperation, Wang said.

Global Times