Chen Binhua, a spokesperson for the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office Photo: VCG

China firmly opposes official interaction between the US and Taiwan region, firmly opposes leader of the Taiwan region making "stopover" in the US in any name or under whatever pretext, a long-standing and clear position, the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office said on Sunday.

Spokesperson Chen Binhua made the remarks in response to a media question on Taiwan regional leader Lai Ching-te's "stopover" in Hawaii in his trip to so-called "diplomatic allies" in the Pacific.

Chen noted that the Chinese Foreign Ministry has lodged serious protests with the US.

Since Lai took office, his authorities have stubbornly adhered to a separatist stance of "Taiwan independence," continuously sought "independence" and made provocations, escalating cross-Straits confrontation, threatening peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits, and severely harming the safety and well-being of the Taiwan compatriots, Chen said.

No matter what tricks the Lai authorities adopt to manipulate in the pursuit of "Taiwan independence," they cannot shake the basic pattern of the international community's adherence to the one-China principle, nor can they obstruct the historical trend of China's eventual reunification, the spokesperson said.

"We urge the US to abide by the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiqués, fully see the separatist nature and damage of Lai and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities, handle the Taiwan question with prudence," Chen said.