CCTV: It was reported that during August 12 to 18, deputy leader of China’s Taiwan region Lai Ching-te “stopped over” in New York and San Francisco. What is your comment?

Wang Wenbin: The US insisted on arranging two “stopovers” for Lai Ching-te. This has seriously violated the one-China principle and undermined China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and sent a gravely wrong signal to “Taiwan independence” separatist forces. China firmly opposes and strongly condemns this.

The one-China principle is a prevailing consensus among the international community and a basic norm governing international relations. It is also the prerequisite and basis for the establishment and development of diplomatic ties between China and the US. In the three China-US joint communiqués, the US made a clear commitment of maintaining only unofficial relations with Taiwan. As the deputy leader of the Taiwan region, Lai describes himself as a “pragmatic worker for Taiwanese independence”. What he said and did in the US over the past few days proved once again that he is a “Taiwan independence” separatist through and through. By allowing him to engage in political activities in the US, propagate separatist propositions for “Taiwan independence” and use it to upgrade official interaction and substantive relations with Taiwan, the US has once again exposed its calculations of saying one thing but doing another, following a strategy of using Taiwan to contain China, and fudging and hollowing out the one-China principle.

The Taiwan question is the core of the core interests of China, the bedrock of the political foundation of China-US relations, and the first red line that must not be crossed in China-US relations. “Taiwan independence” and cross-Strait peace and stability are as irreconcilable as fire and water. The pursuit of “Taiwan independence” will lead nowhere. Those who connive at and support “Taiwan independence” will eventually get burnt.

China again urges the US to abide by the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiqués, honor its commitment of not supporting “Taiwan independence” or “two Chinas” or “one China, one Taiwan”, stop all forms of official interaction with Taiwan, stop upgrading its substantive exchanges with the region, stop conniving at and supporting separatist forces seeking “Taiwan independence” and their separatist activities and stop obscuring and hollowing out the one-China principle. China must be reunified, and will surely be reunified. Any attempt of holding back China’s reunification is doomed to fail. China will take strong measures to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity.