China warns United States against Taiwanese Minister Meet

Beijing, July 18: China warned the US government on Wednesday against top US officials meeting Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Minister who is on a visit to Washington. Taiwan’s Chen Ming-tong began his visit to the US capital on Monday and was set to speak at a think tank seminar and meet academicians as well as hold meetings with government officials, according to the Taiwanese government. “We firmly oppose any formal ties between the US and Taiwan,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying was quoted as saying by Efe news. “We hope the US can properly handle Taiwan related issues, take concrete actions to uphold the overall picture of China-US relations,” Hua further warned Washington.

The Donald Trump administration reached out to Taiwan after a telephone conversation in 2016 with President Tsai Ing-wen, by selling arms to the island and approving a law that did away with restrictions on official visits between the US and Taiwan. The US State Department had requested the Pentagon to assign Marines for the security of the building, a move opposed by Beijing. (IANS)