China on Tuesday urged the U.S. to stop conniving with and supporting "Taiwan independence" separatist forces, and called Lai Ching-te "a troublemaker through and through."

It was reported that deputy leader of China's Taiwan region Lai Ching-te set off for Paraguay on August 12 to attend the inauguration of Paraguay's new president. He arrived in New York for a "stopover."

The U.S. and the Taiwan authorities arranged for Lai to engage in political activities in the United States in the name of having a "stopover." This seriously violates the one-China principle, and gravely undermines China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, said the spokesperson of China's Foreign Ministry Wang Wenbin.

Noting that the Taiwan question is at the core of China's core interests and the first red line that must not be crossed in China-U.S. relations, Wang urged the U.S. to "abide by the one-China principle and the provisions of the three China-U.S. joint communiques, fulfill its commitment on not supporting 'Taiwan independence' separatists," stop any form of official interaction between the U.S. and the Taiwan region, and stop hollowing out the one-China principle.

China will closely follow the developments and take firm and strong measures to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity, Wang emphasized.

In response to Lai's "Taiwan independence" remarks in an exclusive interview to the U.S. media agency Bloomberg, Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, on Tuesday condemned him for advocating the fallacy of "Taiwan independence" separatists by taking advantage of his "transit," and that his so-called "peace" rhetoric is a "complete lie."

Such a person can only bring Taiwan the danger of war, said Zhu.

(Cover: Taipei 101 skyscraper in Taipei, southeast China's Taiwan. /Xinhua)