BEIJING - China’s foreign ministry on Thursday condemned the meeting between US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen in California, state media Xinhua reported.

Ms Tsai met with a delegation of US politicians from the Republican and Democratic parties during a stopover in the United States on Wednesday after visiting Guatemala and Belize, two of Taipei’s dwindling group of official allies.

“In response to the seriously erroneous acts of collusion between the United States and Taiwan, China will take resolute and effective measures to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the ministry said in a statement published by Xinhua.

China regards Taiwan as a renegade province to be reunified, by force if necessary. Beijing baulks at any official contact Taipei has with other countries.

Wednesday’s meeting “gravely violated the one-China principle”, the ministry said, referring to the policy formally recognised by the United States for decades.

“The Taiwan question is at the very core of China’s core interests and the first red line that must not be crossed in China-US relations,” the ministry added.

A separate statement issued by the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National People’s Congress on Thursday, carried by Xinhua, said Mr McCarthy’s actions had “seriously broken the commitment made by the United States to China on the Taiwan question.”

The Ministry of National Defence also condemned Ms Tsai and Mr McCarthy’s meeting, Xinhua reported.

“We firmly oppose all forms of official interaction between the United States and Taiwan and any visit by leader of the Taiwan authorities to the United States in any name or under whatever pretext,” the ministry said in a statement, according to Xinhua.

“The (People’s Liberation Army) will resolutely safeguard China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as the peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” the ministry added. AFP, REUTERS