China demands the US stop any official contact with Taiwan following a congressional visit
Associated PressWASHINGTON — China responded sternly Thursday to a U.S. congressional delegation’s visit to Taiwan, demanding the U.S. stop any official contact with the self-governing island. “China opposes any form of official interaction between the U.S. and Taiwan authorities and rejects U.S. interference in Taiwan affairs in whatever form or under whatever pretext,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said. Mao spoke shortly after leaders of the House Select Committee on China’s Communist Party met with Taiwanese leaders on a high-profile trip aimed at showing U.S. support for the island’s democratically elected government. Mao criticized the sale as “undermining China’s sovereignty and security interests and harming China-U.S. relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.” The U.S. is obligated under a 1979 law to provide Taiwan with sufficient military hardware and technology to deter invasion, and its arm sales to Taiwan have always drawn strong opposition from Beijing, which considers the island as part of Chinese territory and vows to take it, by force if necessary.