China warns US' latest support for Taiwan poses 'huge risks' to ties

BEIJING • China has condemned the United States' latest overture towards Taiwan, warning that ties between the two countries faced "huge risks", just weeks after Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping agreed to hold a video summit.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's call for greater participation by Taiwan in United Nations organisations violated the "one China" understanding between China and the US, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian yesterday.

Mr Zhao dismissed Mr Blinken's remarks as an attempt to generate sympathy for Taiwan's cause on the world stage.

"If the US continues to play the Taiwan card, it will surely bring game-changing and huge risks to China-US relations," he said.

Earlier in the day, the Taiwan Affairs Office in Beijing urged Taipei to "abandon the illusion of relying on the US for independence", saying the island had "no right" to join the UN a half century after its government was booted out.

The Global Times newspaper also published an editorial yesterday, accusing Mr Blinken of trying to upgrade Washington's approach towards Taipei and opening a "new offensive" on Taiwan.

China won't "step back an inch" on the issue, the Chinese-language edition of the nationalistic tabloid said, arguing that the call would be rejected by most UN members.

China regards self-ruled Taiwan as a renegade province awaiting reunification with the mainland, by force if necessary.

Mr Blinken had - in a statement on Tuesday marking 50 years since the UN General Assembly voted to seat Beijing and boot out Taipei - regretted that Taiwan had increasingly been excluded on the world stage.

He said "Taiwan's meaningful participation in the UN system is not a political issue, but a pragmatic one", and added that, as the international community faces an unprecedented number of complex and global issues, it is critical for all stakeholders to help address problems - including the 24 million people living in Taiwan.

Taiwan hailed Mr Blinken's support, saying he recognised that the "country" was "a vital US partner and model democracy".

"Your support for the country's meaningful participation in the activities, mechanisms and meetings of UN specialised agencies is key to successfully tackling global challenges," the Taiwanese Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

How much the latest dust-up over Taiwan will impact US-China ties, including the planned Biden-Xi video summit this year, is unclear. The two sides have been sparring over Taiwan since open fighting stopped in the Chinese civil war more than seven decades ago.

Although the US recognised the People's Republic as the "sole legal government of China" more than four decades ago, it never clarified its position on Taiwan's sovereignty or whether it would use force to defend the island.

Meanwhile, Taiwan's Defence Minister said in a report to Parliament yesterday that the situation in the Taiwan Strait, which separates the island from China, was "severe and unstable".

Tensions between Taiwan and China have risen over the past year as Beijing ups its military and political pressure to force the island to accept Chinese sovereignty. That has included repeated missions by Chinese warplanes in Taiwan's air defence identification zone.

"Taiwan will not engage in an arms race with the Chinese Communists' military and will not seek military confrontation, hoping for peaceful coexistence across the strait," the Defence Ministry said.

"But in the face of the Chinese Communists' threat to our national security, we will do our best to defend our country's sovereignty and will never give in under duress."

BLOOMBERG, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS