The Chinese Ministry of Defense today condemned the support of the newly elected government of Taiwan by the US and Britain, which were made shortly after as the island freely chose its new leaders, the Associated Press reported, quoted by BTA.
Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qiang accused Britain of clinging to Cold War-era thinking and trying to “provoke confrontation”.
Today's comments came after a delegation from the US Congress met on Monday in a show of support for new Taiwanese President William Lai, shortly after China held military exercises around Taiwan as a sort of response to his inauguration speech.< /p>
Despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties between the US and Taiwan, they remain close partners in security, culture and politics. Washington is the largest supplier of military equipment to Taiwan and has a de facto embassy on the island to emphasize its strong ties.
China regularly sends warships and aircraft near Taiwan to signal its threat to use force against the island, which it claims as its territory and often describes its accession as a “sacred mission”.
Taiwan was only made a Chinese province in 1885, and shortly thereafter became part of Japan for 50 years until the end of World War II.
It then seceded from mainland China in 1949 and was ruled under strict martial law until the late 1980s, when it adopted a democratic form of government.
During the US delegation's visit on Monday, Congressman Andy Barr, who co-chairs the Taiwan Caucus in the US Congress, said the United States is fully committed to supporting Taiwan militarily, diplomatically and economically.
Taiwan's new foreign minister, Lin Chialun, drew attention to the recent Chinese exercises and called the US delegation's visit an “important gesture of solidarity” at a critical moment.
The delegation, which included Republican and Democratic representatives, was led by Republican Congressman Michael McCaul, chairman of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, who was sanctioned by China last year after visiting Taiwan in April .
/SHT/
Source: www.bta.bg