Chinese Ambassador to the United States Qin Gang speaks during a virtual meeting with board members of the US-China Business Council (USCBC) in Washington D.C. on Sept 13, 2021. (LIU JIE / XINHUA)
WASHINGTON – Chinese Ambassador to the United States Qin Gang on Tuesday lodged a stern demarche and strong protest to the US National Security Council and the Department of State on US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to China's Taiwan region.
Disregarding China's repeated and serious representations and firm opposition, the US side had Pelosi visit China's Taiwan region, which is a major event upgrading the negative movement of the US side on the Taiwan question, and a serious violation of the one-China principle and the provisions of the three China-US joint communiques, said the envoy.
It has a severe impact on the political foundation of China-US relations, and seriously infringes upon China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, gravely undermines peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits and sends a seriously wrong signal to the separatist forces for "Taiwan independence," he said.
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Egregious in nature, the visit has caused extremely serious damage and carries extremely bad influence, Qin said, adding reiterating China’s strong condemnation of and protest against the visit.
We said it repeatedly in recent time that the PLA (People's Liberation Army) will not stay idle, and the duty of the PLA, China's military, is to defend China's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Qin Gang, Chinese Ambassador to the US
Noting that the one-China principle is the political foundation of China-US relations and the most fundamental guideline for handling the Taiwan question, he said the US Congress should strictly abide by the one-China policy of the US government and not have any official contacts with China's Taiwan region.
The US side has repeatedly committed that its one-China policy will not change and that it does not support "Taiwan independence," but now it had its House speaker visit Taiwan to provoke China, he pointed out.
Where is the US commitment to the one-China principle and the provisions of the three China-US joint communiques, to not supporting "Taiwan independence," and to international obligations? Qin asked.
Facts have proved that it is the US side, not others, that has reneged on its commitments, triggered the crisis, and undermined peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits, he said.
Noting that resolutely safeguarding the sovereignty and territorial integrity is the firm will of the more than 1.4 billion Chinese people, the Chinese ambassador said the will of the people cannot be defied, and those who play with fire will perish by it.
He said that the complete reunification of China is an unstoppable historical trend, the Chinese people are not to be bullied, the Chinese nation is not to be humiliated, and any attempt to obstruct or block China's reunification will end in failure.
China will firmly respond with forceful counter-measures, Qin said, adding that all serious consequences arising therefrom must be borne by the US side and "Taiwan independence" separatist forces.
He said China strongly urges the US side to stop playing the "Taiwan card" and using Taiwan to contain China, immediately correct its mistakes, manage and eliminate the pernicious impact of Pelosi's Taiwan visit, and refrain from further taking dangerous and provocative moves to infringe on China's sovereignty and security.
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He also asked Washington to adopt real actions to honor President Joe Biden's commitment on not seeking a "new Cold War", not seeking to change China's system; the revitalization of its alliances is not against China; not supporting "Taiwan independence", and not looking for conflict with China.
Also on Tuesday, Qin said in an interview with CNN that then US House Speaker Newt Gingrich's visit to China's Taiwan 25 years ago was a complete mistake, to which China voiced strong opposition at the time.
The US side should draw a lesson from it, instead of making repeated mistakes, and one mistake cannot justify the following mistakes in the same nature, he said.
"China has every right to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity. We are fully justified to do what we must. The current situation is created purely by the US side, so of course it has to bear the responsibilities," Qin said.
"We said it repeatedly in recent time that the PLA (People's Liberation Army) will not stay idle, and the duty of the PLA, China's military, is to defend China's sovereignty and territorial integrity," Qin stressed.
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"We will take whatever we can to respond to and to protect, to safeguard our sovereignty and territorial integrity, and our response will be very firm, strong and forceful," he said.