President Trump needs to “cautiously and properly handle Taiwan-related issues,” a top Chinese diplomat warned Monday.
“[The United States] should not forget the fact that it established diplomatic ties with the People’s Republic of China decades ago on the basis of acknowledging the One-China principle,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said during a press briefing.
Geng offered that reminder just days after the State Department recalled three senior American diplomats from Central America to discuss Chinese inroads in the region. U.S. officials are particularly concerned about a string of recent countries that decided to abandon diplomatic relations with Taiwan, which the government in Beijing regards as a renegade province, in exchange for foreign aid and investment from mainland China.
“A sovereign country can choose with whom it wishes to develop diplomatic ties, because it has the sovereign right to do so,” Geng said. “It should adopt a correct view of other countries’ establishment of diplomatic ties with China, cautiously and properly handle Taiwan-related issues, and refrain from further saying or doing anything irresponsible for the sake of its own image and cross-Strait peace and stability.”
Chinese officials have reportedly threatened to invade Taiwan if the United States offers too much diplomatic recognition; the government in Taipei is the last bastion of the regime that was overthrown during the Chinese Communist revolution. More recently, China has made an aggressive play to convince Taiwan’s dwindling list of partners to stop recognizing the island as an independent nation.
“Beijing is promising paydays to governments to entice them to cut diplomatic relations with Taiwan,” Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., said last week. “Without a coherent U.S. strategy to push back, Taiwan’s official partners might drop from 17 to zero. We must stand up for our friends in Taiwan.”
Markey and three other lawmakers proposed legislation that would allow the State Department to downgrade relations with countries that scrap their ties to Taiwan. The bill would mark a step towards making the Taiwan question more of a choice between friendship with China or with the United States. The bill would also require the Trump administration to develop a strategy to counter China’s diplomatic offensive.
“China’s insidious agenda to isolate Taiwan cannot go unanswered,” said Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., one of the bill’s sponsors.
That defense of Taiwan is happening against a backdrop of the U.S. refusal to grant full diplomatic recognition to the island government, even as the administration and lawmakers irritate Beijing by making more dramatic gestures towards Taipei.
“The One-China principle is a consensus shared by the international community,” Geng said. “It is based on this principle that China established diplomatic ties with the relevant countries in accordance with international law and basic norms governing international relations, as well as the fundamental interests of the people not only in China but also in these countries.”
