There is but one China in the world and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Monday in response to a query on a possible meeting between U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen during the latter's "transit" in the U.S.

"As the Chinese side has repeatedly stressed, we strongly oppose any form of official interaction and contact between the U.S. side and Taiwan authorities," the spokesperson said at a daily news briefing.

The spokesperson urged the relevant U.S. congressman to abide by the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiques, refrain from sending wrong signals to "Taiwan independence" forces, and avoid undermining the China-U.S. relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

"We are one China, and Taiwan is part of China. This is an indisputable fact supported by history and the law," said a white paper, titled "The Taiwan Question and China's Reunification in the New Era," released last August.

On the day of its founding on October 1, 1949, the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) made it clear that in order to establish diplomatic ties with it, a foreign country must recognize the PRC government as the sole legitimate government representing the whole of China and sever or refrain from establishing diplomatic ties with Taiwan authorities.

The one-China principle is the universal consensus of the international community, and it is consistent with the basic norms of international relations. To date, 182 countries including the U.S. have established diplomatic relations with the PRC on the basis of the one-China principle.

The China-U.S. Joint Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations, published in December 1978, states: "The Government of the United States of America acknowledges the Chinese position that there is but one China and Taiwan is part of China."

It also states: "The United States of America recognizes the Government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legal Government of China. Within this context, the people of the United States will maintain cultural, commercial, and other unofficial relations with the people of Taiwan."

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