Beijing: As Taiwan’s president began a stopover in the United States on her way to Central America, China said it was closely watching developments and would “resolutely safeguard our sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
China claims Taiwan as its own territory to be brought under its control by force if necessary, and portrays the self-governing island democracy of 23 million people as the most sensitive issue in its increasingly fraught relationship with the US.
On Thursday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning reiterated China’s furious objections to any interactions between Tsai Ing-wen and US officials.
China has particularly warned that a meeting with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy planned for April 5 in Los Angeles would bring a strong but as yet unspecified response.
“China firmly opposes any form of official interaction between the US and Taiwan,” Mao told reporters at a daily briefing. “China will continue to closely follow the situation and resolutely safeguard our sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
In August, Beijing responded to then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan by launching missiles, deploying warships across the median line of the Taiwan Strait and simulating a blockade of the island.
China also temporarily suspended dialogue with the US on climate and other major issues and restricted military-to-military communication with the Pentagon.
Tsai’s visit aims to show that Taiwan still has allies, despite China’s military threats and attempts to isolate it diplomatically. Most recently, the Central American state of Honduras switched relations from Taipei to Beijing, leaving Taiwan with just 13 formal diplomatic allies. Tsai accused Beijing of using “dollar diplomacy” to poach another Taiwanese ally.
Tsai is expected to meet with the American Institute in Taiwan chair, Laura Rosenberger. AIT is the US government-run nonprofit that carries out unofficial relations with Taiwan.
While the US terms relations with Taiwan as unofficial, it remains the island’s chief source of military hardware and cooperation. US law requires Washington to treat all threats to the island as matters of “grave concern,” but does not explicitly say whether the US would commit troops.
Tsai arrived in New York on Wednesday and was scheduled to spend Thursday in the city, but few details of the trip were made public. The US typically foregoes any official meetings with senior US leaders in Washington for transit stops, as is the case for Tsai’s visit.
The latest spike in tensions comes months after the passage of what the US said was a Chinese spy balloon across the US, which heightened questions about China’s
intentions.