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US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Saturday that Washington would lift “complex internal restrictions” that govern relations between diplomats, officials and others with Taiwan. Such developments were announced last year amid growing tensions between the United States and China over human rights, trade, the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic and other issues.
China views Taiwan as its unclaimed territory and is working to keep it isolated on the world stage.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said China “strongly condemns” the US move and accused Washington of violating the terms of its diplomatic relations with Beijing.
“Any action that damages the fundamental interests of China will receive decisive retaliation from China,” warned Zhao Lijian, calling on Pompeo to reverse the decision. Otherwise, the United States will face “severe punishment,” added a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
It is not yet clear what this change means in practice. Pompeo said the executive’s relations with Taiwan would be handled by the Taiwan American Institute (TAI), which is owned by the US government and is a de facto embassy.
The TAI was established in 1979 when the United States declared diplomatic recognition of mainland China under a landmark agreement that required the end of official recognition of Taiwan.
Yet Washington remains a strong ally of Taipei, and the United States has an obligation, under its own laws, to ensure that Taiwan can defend itself. Recently, increasingly modern weaponry is being sold to the island.
The United States opposes any move to change the current state of Taiwan by force.
Military tensions between mainland China and Taiwan have risen in recent years and are at their highest since the mid-1990s, some analysts say.
Chinese jets carried out a record number of 380 sorties into Taiwan’s defense zone last year, a soldier said Tuesday.
Beijing’s hostility has increased significantly since Tsai Ing-wen won Taiwan’s presidential election in 2016, failing to acknowledge Beijing’s position that the island is part of “one China.”
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