The US State Department’s Friday decision to deepen relations with self-ruled Taiwan came amid stepped-up Chinese military activity around the island, including almost daily air force incursions into Taiwan’s air defense zone.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters they had lodged “stern representations” with the United States.
China urges the United States “not to play with fire on the Taiwan issue, immediately stop any form of US-Taiwan official contacts, cautiously and appropriately handle the matter, and not send wrong signals to Taiwan independence forces so as not to subversively influence and damage Sino-US relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait”, he said.
China also lodged a complaint after Washington issued guidelines that will enable US officials to meet more freely with officials from the island that China claims as its own.
In recent months, the US government has launched provocative actions in the Taiwan Strait and sent military ships to the region.
HJ/