This Dec 7, 2021 photograph shows a sign of the World Health Organization at its headquarters in Geneva. (FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP)

BEIJING – China rejects and deplores it that the United States should insist on signing the bill, which will help Taiwan regain observer status in the World Health Organization (WHO), into law, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday, urging the US to handle Taiwan-related issues prudently and properly. 

US President Joe Biden has signed a bill to direct the Secretary of State to develop a strategy to regain observer status for Taiwan in the WHO. 

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The Taiwan question is China's domestic affair, and the one-China principle is a basic norm governing international relations, spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at a daily press briefing. 

According to relevant resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly and the World Health Assembly, China's Taiwan region's participation in WHO activities must be handled in accordance with the one-China principle, he said. 

"Attaching high importance to our Taiwan compatriots' health welfare, the Chinese central government has made proper arrangements for the region's participation in global health affairs under the precondition of following the one-China principle," he said. 

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"We urge the US to adhere to the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques, comply with international law and basic norms governing international relations, prudently and properly handle Taiwan-related issues, and not to use this bill to help Taiwan expand its so-called 'international space', otherwise it will cause further damage to China-US relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait," he said.