TAIPEI • China will make a "necessary response" to a visit by US Undersecretary for Economic Affairs Keith Krach to Taiwan, and has lodged a complaint with the US, the Chinese foreign ministry said yesterday, ahead of his arrival.
Two Chinese anti-submarine aircraft flew into Taiwan's air defence identification zone on Wednesday and were warned to leave by Taiwan's air force, the island's defence ministry said yesterday.
When US Health Secretary Alex Azar visited Taiwan last month, the highest-level US official to visit the island since Washington switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing in 1979, Chinese air force jets briefly crossed the mid-line of the Taiwan Strait and were tracked by Taiwanese missiles.
Mr Krach, who landed in Taipei yesterday afternoon, is in Taiwan for a memorial service tomorrow for former president Lee Teng-hui, who was seen as the father of Taiwan's democracy.
Mr Krach is expected to meet Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen today.
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said China has lodged "stern representations" with Washington about Mr Krach's trip, and that it opposed any official exchanges between the United States and Taiwan.
The visit will give succour to the forces of Taiwan independence and damage Sino-US ties, Mr Wang said.
"We urge the US side to fully recognise the extreme sensitivity of the Taiwan issue," Mr Wang said.
"China will make a necessary response depending on how the situation develops," he added, but did not give details.
Relations between China and the United States have nosedived in recent months, with disagreements over Taiwan, trade, China's imposition of a national security law on Hong Kong, Beijing's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, and other issues.
China views Taiwan as a breakaway province, to be reunited by force if needed. Beijing considers any official US-Taiwan exchange a breach of the one-China policy.
Ms Tsai, who is from the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, has said that Taiwan is already an independent country called the Republic of China - Taiwan's formal name.
Mr Krach is also likely to hold at least some form of trade talks during his trip, though details have not been announced.
The US recently said it is establishing a new bilateral economic dialogue with Taiwan.
Taiwan has long sought a free trade deal with the US, but Washington has complained about barriers to access for US pork and beef.
A day ahead of Mr Krach's visit, Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu urged the international community to help defend Taiwan and the region against "expansionist" Chinese moves, saying Taipei feared Beijing would resort to force.
Taiwan was "on the front line defending democracies from being taken over by the communist China" and needed help from other governments, he told the France 24 TV station on Wednesday.
Mr Wu also said China "has been intensifying its military threat against Taiwan" in recent years and had stepped up military exercises in the region.
More than 30 Chinese military planes have recently crossed into Taiwan's air defence identification zone, he said, describing this as "very threatening".
He added that a war with China "can be a real possibility if you look at the Chinese way of threatening Taiwan".
REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
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