China Foreign Minister says Taiwan's only prospect is unification

ROME/SHANGHAI • Taiwan has no future prospect other than unification with China, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said in Rome at the Group of 20 summit.

Mr Wang was responding to questions on efforts by countries including the United States to support Taiwan's greater participation in the United Nations and in the international community, according to a statement posted on China's Foreign Ministry website yesterday.

Chinese officials slammed the US last week and warned its support for Taiwan - which China claims as a renegade province - could pose "huge risks" to relations between Beijing and Washington.

"The history and legal facts of 'One China' are unchallengeable and the progress for China's 1.4 billion population to promote the peaceful reunification of the motherland is unstoppable," said Mr Wang.

Under international law, Taiwan has no status other than being a part of China, he said.

Countries that "wilfully" pushed their overtures on the Taiwan issue would pay the price, Mr Wang said, according to the statement.

Separately, China yesterday warned Lithuania and European officials not to disrupt ties over decisions by Taiwan and the Baltic country to open reciprocal representative offices.

China demanded in August that Lithuania withdraw its ambassador in Beijing and said it would recall China's envoy to Vilnius after Taiwan announced that its office in Vilnius would be called the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania.

Other Taiwan offices in Europe and the US use the name of the city Taipei, avoiding a reference to the island itself.

Lithuania said earlier this year it planned to open a representative office in Taiwan, a decision that also angered Beijing.

China "resolutely opposes" official contacts between countries that have diplomatic relations with China and the authorities in Taiwan, Mr Wang Wenbin, a foreign ministry spokesman, said in a statement on its website.

"We urge the Lithuanian government to abide by the solemn political commitments made when establishing diplomatic relations with China and not to make irreversible wrong decisions," he said.

"The European side should adopt a correct position and prevent interference with the healthy development of China-EU relations," he added.

China's Xinhua news agency said the comments followed a joint letter from the presidents of the European Council and the European Commission expressing concern over China's criticisms of the representative offices.

Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, during a rare trip to Europe, urged "freedom-loving countries" on Friday to work together against China.

BLOOMBERG, REUTERS