Beijing hits out at Taiwanese vice president-elect’s White House visit

China said on Thursday it “firmly opposes” a meeting at the White House between US security officials and a senior Taiwanese politician. Vice President-Elect William Lai made the visit this week during a personal trip to the US, according to Taiwanese media.

On Monday, Lai reportedly had a 70-minute meeting with US National Security Council officials. It was not clear what was discussed.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said on Thursday that Beijing opposes any official exchange between the US and Taiwan. Washington “shall not arrange [for] US leaders, government officials and Congress members to have any form of contact with Lai,” Hua Chunying said. She also called for the US to “stop sending the wrong signals to Taiwan independence forces to avoid causing serious harm to China-US relations.”

The trip comes weeks after Lai was elected to office, along with Beijing-sceptic President Tsai Ing-wen who won a landslide second term, AFP said.