China on Thursday urged the United States to stop all official and military contacts with its Taiwan region, warning of countermeasures as responding to the cancellation of a U.S. diplomat's visit to the region.
At a regular press briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said that the U.S. should strictly follow the one-China policy and the three China-U.S. joint communiques, halting all official exchanges with the Taiwan region.
A planned trip to Taiwan by U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft was canceled as part of a large cancellation of all travels by the U.S. State Department this week, a State Department spokeswoman said on Tuesday.
New U.S. ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft speaks to reporters after attending her first UN Security Council meeting at its headquarters in New York, the U.S., September 12, 2019. /Reuters
The cancellation of the trip is in line with the State Department canceling trips abroad ahead of Joe Biden's inauguration in order to ensure a "smooth and orderly" transition to the new administration, according to the spokeswoman.
The Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson has reiterated that China opposes any official exchanges between the U.S. and the Taiwan region and warned the U.S. side not to go further down the wrong path.
"China will continue to take necessary measures to firmly safeguard its national sovereignty and security interests," Zhao said.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also cancelled a final official visit to Europe for the same reason.
Craft planned to pay a three-day visit to China's Taiwan starting from Wednesday, Pompeo earlier announced. The move was strongly opposed by China which claims Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory and warned the U.S. side would pay a heavy price for its wrong action.
(Cover: A view of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. /VCG)