China condemns Pompeo’s decision to lift curbs on US ties with Taiwan

China will defend its sovereignty and nobody will stop the process of reunification with Taiwan, the Foreign Ministry said as it condemned the US decision to lift “self-imposed restrictions” on its interactions with the territory.

China is strongly opposing the US removal of restrictions on official contact with Taiwan, announced by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said. The move has seriously violated the one-China policy pursued by Beijing, he told reporters on Monday.

“The Chinese people’s resolve to defend our sovereignty and territorial integrity is unshakable, and we will not permit any person or force to stop the process of China’s reunification,” Zhao Lijian stressed. “Any actions which harm China’s core interests will be met with a firm counterattack and will not succeed.”

Pompeo’s decision has also violated three China-US joint communiques, Zhao said, explaining that these documents confirm that Washington recognizes China’s government as the sole legal government.

While the US has no official ties with Taiwan, Pompeo’s move allows the island’s officials to hold meetings at the State Department or White House rather than non-official locations.

The US ambassador to the United Nations, Kelly Craft, is expected to arrive in Taipei for a three-day visit on Wednesday. China’s mission to the UN last week warned that Washington “will pay a heavy price for its wrong action.”

As Pompeo told executive branch agencies to consider all “contact guidelines” regarding relations with Taiwan “to be null and void,” Taiwanese officials welcomed the “bipartisan commitment” to develop ties, but Beijing says the decision is straining China-US relations just days before the American presidential transition. “We believe if there is a showdown cross the Taiwan Straits, the international community will widely stand with China and its people,” the state-run Global Times daily wrote.

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