BANGKOK – China’s Foreign Ministry accused the United States of violating its commitment to the “One China” principle and meddling in internal Chinese affairs on Thursday, after the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved a new bill that could significantly increase US defense aid to the island. of Taiwan.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning told reporters in Beijing that China has “submitted serious complaints” to Washington over the legislation, which still needs the US House and President Joe Biden’s approval to become law.
“The one-China principle is the political foundation of the China-U.S. relationship,” she said. “If the bill continues to be debated, pushed forward, or even signed into law, it will greatly shake the political foundations of China and the United States. relationship and cause extremely serious consequences for China-U.S. relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”
China claims the self-governing democracy of Taiwan as its own territory, and has not ruled out retaking the island by force if necessary. The sides split after a civil war in 1949 and have no official ties, and China itself cut informal contacts after the election of independent Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in 2016.
Under its “One China” policy, the United States recognizes the government in Beijing, while opening up informal relations and defense ties with Taipei.
It takes a stance of “strategic ambiguity” towards the defense of Taiwan – leaving open whether it would respond militarily if the island was attacked.
The Taiwan Policy Act of 2022, approved by the committee on Wednesday, aims to “support the security of Taiwan and its right to self-determination,” providing billions of dollars in defense funding to improve its “counter-intervention capabilities.”
Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, who co-authored the bipartisan bill with Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, stressed that its focus is on deterrence and that China should not see it as a threat.
“The bill we are approving today makes clear that the United States does not seek war or heightened tensions with Beijing. On the contrary, he said in a statement. “We are carefully and strategically lowering the existential threats that Taiwan faces by increasing the cost of taking the island by force so that it becomes too high risk and unattainable.”
The committee’s approval of the bill comes at a time when tensions between Beijing and Washington were already high over Taiwan following the visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taipei last month.
It prompted China to fire missiles into the Taiwan Strait and mobilize a large number of ships and warplanes for exercises around the island.
China views high-level foreign visits to the island as interference in its affairs and de facto recognition of Taiwanese sovereignty, and there has been a steady stream of high-level visitors to the United States since Pelosi’s visit.
The Biden administration has insisted that America’s “One China” policy has not changed.
Despite a lack of formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, the United States is its strongest political backer and source of defensive weapons, and during the visit Pelosi said she wants to help the island defend itself.
In a statement, Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it will continue to maintain close communication with the US government on the bill, with the hope that “it can become law and make further progress in deepening US-Taiwan friendly relations, and ensuring freedom, peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific.”
Associated Press writer Huizhong Wu contributed from Taipei.
