US slammed for encouraging Taiwan's WHA presence

China has slammed the United States for supporting "Taiwan independence" separatist moves, and urged the US to stop using the World Health Assembly to create confusion on Taiwan-related issues.

A spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry made the remark on Thursday, after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on Wednesday that the US "strongly encourages" the World Health Organization to invite the Taiwan region to participate as an observer at this year's WHA.

Voicing China's strong dissatisfaction and firm objection, the spokesperson said the US statement is misleading, as well as a serious violation of the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques.

"There is but one China in the world and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory," the spokesperson said.

The Taiwan region's participation in activities of the WHO and other international organizations must be handled under the one-China principle, a basic principle enshrined in the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 and WHA Resolution 25.1, the spokesperson stressed.

The political foundation for the region to participate in the WHA, however, has ceased to exist, because its Democratic Progressive Party authorities have stubbornly stuck to the separatist position of "Taiwan independence", the spokesperson also said.

The spokesperson said the Taiwan question is "at the core of China's core interests and is the number one red line that must not be crossed in China-US relations".

The spokesperson also called on the US to follow the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques, deliver on its leader's promise of not supporting "Taiwan independence", "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan", and avoid sending wrong signals to "Taiwan independence" separatists.

The one-China principle has gained extensive support in the international community, and is a trend that cannot be denied or stopped, the spokesperson said, adding that any attempt to use the Taiwan region to contain China "is doomed to failure".

wangqingyun@chinadaily.com.cn