China’s Foreign Ministry criticized the United States on Monday for adopting what it called “empty rhetoric and hegemonic logic” towards Taiwan, a province that Beijing considers part of its territory. The statement responds to a statement by US Ambassador Nicholas Burns, who said the Chinese regime is overreacting and manufacturing a crisis.
In an interview with CNN last Friday (19), Burns said that the administration of leader Xi Jinping needs to convince the rest of the world that it is not an “agent of instability” and that it will act peacefully in the Taiwan Strait.
The diplomat, who took office in China six months ago, argues that the visit of the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, to Taipei did not trigger a crisis between Washington and Beijing. Since the lawmaker landed in the province in early August, China has responded by making record-breaking military deployments around the island and suspending key diplomatic communications with the Americans.
“We don’t believe there should be a crisis in US-China relations over the visit — the peaceful visit — of the Speaker of the House of Representatives to Taiwan. It was a government-manufactured crisis in Beijing. It was an overreaction,” Burns said. “I think there is a lot of concern around the world that China has become an agent of instability in the Taiwan Strait and that is in nobody’s interest.”
On Monday, Chinese diplomacy said that the remarks made by the ambassador should be seen as a “distortion of facts”, proving the “empty rhetoric and hegemonic logic” of the American authorities.
The ministry also points out that Washington continues to increase pressure in the region, “throwing mud at China”. “The status quo in the Taiwan Strait is being changed by the US, not the Chinese side,” the statement said. “It is obvious that the United States was the first to launch a provocation,” he adds.
Burns said he received a summons to meet with Chinese Vice Chancellor Xie Feng just as Pelosi’s plane landed in Taipei. He said the meeting was “quite contentious” but Beijing designed its response, including firing missiles, as a way to intimidate Taiwan and lead a global campaign blaming the US for undermining stability in the region.
The new accusations between diplomatic officials add another chapter to the already strained relations between Washington and Beijing, which have grown exponentially after Pelosi’s visit.
The raids gained a new element this Sunday (21), with the arrival of Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb, to Taipei, exactly a week after the visit of another delegation formed by five American congressmen. Holcomb’s visit marks the third time in 20 days that a US official has come to Taiwan in defiance of China, which sees the moves as violations of its sovereignty.
The Republican said the trip would be to further strengthen economic, academic and cultural connections with Taiwan. The island is home to the world’s largest chip maker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd. (TSMC), and has been keen to show the US that it can be trusted at a time when a global semiconductor crisis affects automobile and electronics production.
In a meeting with Holcomb, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said the province wanted to ensure its partners had reliable supplies of what she called “democracy chips”, adding that China’s threats meant other democracies had to cooperate.
On Sunday, after the governor’s arrival in Taipei, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said 12 Chinese aircraft and five ships had been detected near the island, including five planes that crossed the Taiwan Strait line. On Monday, officials said four more Chinese aircraft had crossed the line again.
The Beijing Foreign Ministry, in turn, once again said that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China and the most sensitive point in the relationship with Washington. “We urge relevant parties in the US to abide by the one-China principle and stop all forms of official interactions with the Taiwan region.”
