Washington, Tokyo urged not to collude with island

Photo taken on July 21, 2019 from Xiangshan Mountain shows the Taipei 101 skyscraper in Taipei, China's Taiwan. [Photo/Xinhua]

China urged the United States and Japan on Thursday to honor their commitments on the Taiwan question and stop sending wrong signals to "Taiwan independence" forces, as the two allies stepped up efforts to engage with the island through official channels.

Media reports said that the first trilateral strategic dialogue among lawmakers from the US, Japan and Taiwan was held by video link on Thursday, at which former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe expressed support for Taiwan's participation in international organizations including the World Health Assembly.

Commenting on the dialogue at a regular news conference on Thursday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said:"Both the form and content are negative and wrong. In fact, it is the same old tune, and no one cares about it."

The Taiwan question concerns the political foundation of China-US and China-Japan relations, and Washington and Tokyo have the responsibility to abide by the principles of the political documents they have signed with China, Zhao said.

On Wednesday, the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved legislation that could require US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to provide additional information in his report to Congress on efforts to help Taiwan regain its World Health Assembly observer status.

China firmly opposes the bill, Zhao said, urging the US to stop reviewing the bill and helping Taiwan to expand its so-called international space.

The US should realize the great sensitivity of the Taiwan question, abide by the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques, as well as international law and basic norms governing international relations, he added.

In addition to pushing for Taiwan-related legislation, the US has recently colluded with Taiwan in various ways, including sending military transport planes to the island.

When commenting on the provocative US moves, Senior Colonel Wu Qian, a spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense, said on Thursday that by playing with fire the US will only burn itself, and by adopting salami-slicing tactics on the Taiwan question it will only "cut its own hand".

Wu warned the island's ruling Democratic Progressive Party not to misjudge the situation and invite trouble by taking risks, saying that colluding with the US on its secessionist agenda will only damage the Taiwan people and the DPP itself.

Also at Thursday's news briefing, Zhao, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, opposed Blinken's meeting with representatives of the Dalai Lama in New Delhi during his visit to India on Wednesday, and demanded that the US stop providing any support to anti-China separatist activities by "Tibetan independence" forces.