The North American congressmen’s visit includes meetings with Taiwan officials. Photo: AP.
Less than two weeks after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, a delegation of congressmen arrived on the island to meet with local authorities. China rejected the move, accusing Washington of seeking a confrontation and warning that there would be a vigorous response to the new provocation.
The Chinese Embassy in the United States reiterated Beijing’s opposition to any official contact with Taipei and said so The White House is only fueling instability in the region and blaming Washington for a possible rise in tensions across the Taiwan Strait.
In that regard, diplomatic headquarters urged the Joe Biden administration to require lawmakers to uphold the principle “one China”.
The CGTN channel condemned the two-day stay in Taipei of the bipartisan delegation led by Senator Ed Markey and composed of five other congressmen.
According to the TV station, this movement shows that Washington is sabotaging the peace and justifies further countermeasures by Beijing, such as those taken after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to the island on August 2-3.
CGTN denied, calling it a terrible mistake that the United States had approved five arms sales to Taiwan in the past 18 months and allowed visits by three groups of parliamentarians.
“It is foolish to test the ability of a nation so determined and determined to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity.” CGTN warned.
The China Daily stressed that such visits would lead to a tightening of the military blockade and economic punishment for Taiwan, while US politicians could face sanctions and restrictions on doing business with the Asian giant.
He warned that the ramifications would affect the entire world, as if there were a conflict over this, inflation would rise further, food prices would rise and the energy crisis would deepen.
“Only Wall Street, arms dealers and bellicose politicians in the United States would benefit at the expense of the people,” the newspaper added.
Markey and his entourage arrived in Taipei Sunday unannounced. This Monday they spoke to Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wen and will meet with other government and private sector officials before ending their stay in a few hours.
Beijing responded to Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan with a combination of military, diplomatic, political and trade measures.
Following the congressmen’s visit, China’s Defense Ministry and its army’s Eastern Command announced new drills in the air and sea around Taiwan on Mondaywhich, according to the military authority, will serve as a “firm response and solemn deterrent to collusion and provocation between the United States and Taiwan.”
Last Friday, in an interview published in The Wall Street Journal, former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger opined that his country is on the brink of war with Moscow and Beijing for reasons Washington co-authors.
“We are on the brink of war with Russia and China over issues that we partly created ourselves without knowing how this will end or where it will lead.”said Kissinger.
“Now it cannot be said that we will split and confront (Russia and China). The only thing that can be done is not to accelerate tensions and create options, and for that you have to have a purpose,” the former senior official added, arguing The United States should seek a “balance” with the two countries.
The 99-year-old Kissinger commented on the conflict between Moscow and Kyiv The West should have taken the Kremlin’s security concerns seriously and called it a “mistake” that “NATO signaled to Ukraine that they might eventually join the alliance.”
(With information from AP, Prensa Latina and RT in Spanish)