State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (center) takes part in a group photo on July 11 with representatives of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations before delivering a policy speech at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, Indonesia. (XU QIN / XINHUA)
State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said the one-China principle is the anchor of peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits and urged Washington to respect China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity on the Taiwan question.
Wang’s remarks on July 11 came following a policy speech he made at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Secretariat in Jakarta. He underlined that the Taiwan question is at the center of China’s core interests, and no individual, force or country should harbor the illusion of splitting Taiwan from China.
History and facts have repeatedly proven that the two sides across the Straits will enjoy peaceful development when the one-China principle is fully recognized and earnestly followed, Wang said.
There would be “dark clouds or even ferocious storms” across the Straits if the one-China principle is arbitrarily challenged or even sabotaged, he added.
Wang blamed Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party authorities as being the root cause of tensions across the Straits, saying that they have abandoned the 1992 Consensus and gone further down the wrong path of soliciting foreign support to seek “Taiwan independence”.
He also criticized the United States for distorting and hollowing out the one-China principle and attempting to play the “Taiwan card” to disrupt and hinder China’s development.
The US government has pledged many times that it does not support “Taiwan independence” or seek to change the status quo across the Straits.
Yet in reality, it sends officials, aircraft and warships to Taiwan, increases arms sales to the island, and even “supports Taiwan’s robust, meaningful participation throughout the United Nations system and in the international community”.
Wang said Washington must not engage in double standards, backpedaling and flip-flopping on its position, adding that whether it could respect China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity on the Taiwan question is “a test of the international credibility of the US as a major country”.
As to maintaining the “status quo”, Wang said the “status quo” of the Taiwan question is crystal clear, and it is the DPP authorities and foreign forces intending to “use the Taiwan question to contain China” that have challenged and undermined the status quo.
Wang said the two sides across the Straits belong to one and the same China, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory. He added that though there has been political antagonism between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits, China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity have never been severed.
Wang also noted that the one-China principle is the basic principle for China to establish diplomatic relations with other countries and constitutes a part of the post-World War II international order.
Wang said he hoped and believed that countries can be fully aware of the severe harm of “Taiwan independence” and secession, and jointly uphold the one-China principle with China.
A more clear-cut attitude in safeguarding the one-China principle and more forceful measures to contain separatist forces will make peace and stability across the Straits more possible and regional peace and prosperity more guaranteed, he added.
