Resolution of Taiwan question is matter for Chinese: FM spokesperson

BEIJING, April 24 (Xinhua) -- The resolution of the Taiwan question is a matter for the Chinese, and no external force has any right to interfere, a foreign ministry spokesperson said Monday.

According to reports, British foreign secretary James Cleverly said in a recent interview that he "fundamentally disagreed" that the Taiwan Strait was a domestic matter for China, insisting that it was in "everybody's interests" to have a peaceful resolution to the situation.

"The British foreign secretary needs to dust off his history books," spokesperson Mao Ning told a daily news briefing when answering a relevant query.

Noting there is only one China in the world, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory, Mao said Taiwan's return to China is an important component of the post-WWII international order, as stated in black and white in the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation.

"The one-China principle is a prevailing consensus among the international community and a basic norm in international relations affirmed in Resolution 2758 of the UN General Assembly," Mao said.

She said the one-China principle is the political foundation and prerequisite for establishing and developing China-UK diplomatic relations.

More than 50 years ago, in the China-UK Joint Communique on an Exchange of Ambassadors, the UK acknowledged that Taiwan is a province of the People's Republic of China and recognized the Government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legal Government of China, Mao said.

Stressing that the Taiwan question is purely China's internal affair at the core of China's core interests, Mao said it is hoped that the UK side would approach this key matter of principle with a clear head and ample prudence.