Don’t stir up bigger crisis over Taiwan: China to US

Beijing: China on Saturday warned the US not to “stir up a bigger crisis” over Taiwan, as it stepped up its military drills and warplane incursions in the Taiwan Straits for the third day following House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei, which Beijing feels has challenged its claims of sovereignty over the self-ruled island.

Pelosi’s high-profile visit to Taipei on Wednesday and her meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen and other leaders has infuriated China, which views the self-governed democratic island as its territory that should be reunified with the mainland, even by force.

 Foreign Minister Wang has warned the US not to “stir up a bigger crisis” over Taiwan, while defending the unprecedented military drills by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in the Taiwan Strait, which included firing missiles over the island.

Wang, who attended the ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting in Phnom Penh was quoted in the official media here as saying that the usual tactic of the US is that it will first create the problems, and then use them to achieve their goal. “But this approach will not work on China,” he said. “We must solemnly warn the US not to act rashly or create a bigger crisis,” he said, a day after Beijing imposed sanctions on Pelosi and her immediate family.

China has also halted co-operation with the US in several key areas including climate change, military affairs and efforts to combat international crime. “The People’s Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China. This is the real status quo of the Taiwan question,” Wang said, refuting criticism from the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who accused Beijing of changing the status quo over Taiwan using Pelosi’s visit as an excuse  -AP