China has accused the United States of sending “very wrong and dangerous signals” to Taiwan. China told Washington it had no “right to interfere” in any method Beijing can use to “solve” the Taiwan issue.
Taiwan was the focus of 90 minutes of “direct and honest” talks. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi talked. Both countries talk on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Friday, a U.S. official told reporters.
“The secretary made it very clear that, in keeping with our long-standing one-China policy, which again has not changed. The maintenance of peace and stability across the Strait is vitally important,” the senior U.S. administration official said.
China’s Foreign Ministry, in a statement on the meeting, said Washington was sending “very wrong and dangerous signals”. Signals are about Taiwan and the more rampant Taiwan’s independence activity. The less likely it is that there will be a peaceful settlement.
“The Taiwan issue is an internal Chinese matter. The United States has no right to interfere in the method that will be used to solve it,” Wang was quoted as saying by the ministry.
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Chinese state media said Wang’s meeting with Blinken addressed China’s position on U.S. “wrong behavior” toward Taiwan.
“We must oppose and avoid ‘Taiwan independence,'” Wang told Blinken.
Tensions over Taiwan have soared since a visit there in August by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The tension follows large-scale Chinese military exercises, as well as a recent pledge by U.S. President Joe Biden to defend the democratically governed island.
Biden’s statement was the most explicit to date about the commitment of U.S. troops to defend Taiwan.
Wang had a similar message for UK Foreign Minister James Cleverly during a meeting earlier this week, also on the sidelines of the UNGA in New York.
Wang said the UK should “honor its one-China commitment and oppose ‘Taiwan independence,'” China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
No policy change
The White House has insisted its policy toward Taiwan has not changed. China said Biden’s comments sent the wrong signal to those seeking an independent Taiwan.
China sees Taiwan as one of its provinces. Beijing has long vowed to put Taiwan under its control and has not ruled out the use of force to do so.
Taiwan’s government firmly opposes China’s sovereignty claims. Taiwan says only the island’s 23 million inhabitants can decide its future.
In a phone call with Biden in July, Chinese leader Xi Jinping warned about Taiwan, saying that “those who play with fire will perish for it.”
The State Department had previously said Blinken’s meeting with Wang on Friday. It was part of a U.S. effort to “maintain open lines of communication and manage competition responsibly.”
Daniel Russel, the top U.S. diplomat for Asia under President Barack Obama, said the fact that Blinken and Wang had met was important after the turbulence brought about by Pelosi’s visit.
Russel said some progress has hopefully been made toward hosting a meeting between Xi and Biden on the sidelines of a G20 meeting in November, which would be their first in person as leaders.
“Wang and Blinken’s decision to meet in New York does not guarantee that the November summit will go smoothly or even happen. But if they hadn’t been able to meet, it would have meant that the prospects for a summit in November were poor,” said Russel, now with the Asia Society Policy Institute.
In a speech to the Asian Society in New York on Thursday, Wang said the Taiwan issue was becoming the biggest risk in China-US relations.
“If it is mishandled, it will most likely devastate our bilateral ties,” Wang said, according to a transcript from the Chinese embassy.
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