The Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday it has lodged stern representations to the United States over U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's "congratulations" to Lai Ching-te, who assumed the role of the Taiwan region's new leader on Monday.

The move by the U.S. gravely violates the one-China principle and the three Sino-U.S. joint communiques, seriously breaks the political commitment made by the U.S. to maintain only cultural, commercial and other unofficial relations with the Taiwan region, and sends a seriously wrong signal to the "Taiwan independence" separatist forces, said Wang Wenbin, spokesperson for the ministry.

"China is strongly dissatisfied and firmly opposed to this and has lodged stern representations to the United States," Wang told a regular press briefing.

Read more:

Explainer: Why is one-China principle universal, unconditional, indisputable?

Full Text: The Taiwan Question and China's Reunification in the New Era