TAIPEI (TAIWAN) – The US mission to the UN said on Thursday that its envoy to the UN Kelly Craft would visit Taiwan on January 13 to hold meetings with senior officials and this prompted China to issue a warning saying they were playing with fire.
Washington’s stepped-up support for the self-governing island has miffed Beijing and the trips by senior US officials to Taiwan have further strained Sino-US relations.
When US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar and US Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Keith Krach made visits to the island, Chinese jets flew close to the island in what was seen as an act of sabre-rattling.
“During her trip, the Ambassador will reinforce the US government’s strong and ongoing support for Taiwan’s international space in accord with the US one-China policy that is guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the three US-PRC joint communiques, and the Six Assurances to Taiwan,” the US mission to the UN said in a statement.
Like most nations, the US has no formal ties with Taiwan. But it still remains its biggest international supporter and weapons supplier and it is obliged to help the island with the means to defend itself under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act.
On the other hand, China made it clear it was firmly opposed to the visit.
“We wish to remind the United States that whoever plays with fire will burn himself. The United States will pay a heavy price for its wrong action,” China’s UN mission said.
“China strongly urges the US to stop its crazy provocation, stop creating new difficulties for China-US relations and the two countries’ cooperation in the United Nations, and stop going further on the wrong path.”
Experts see the forthcoming visit as highly symbolic as Taiwan is not a UN member because of Chinese objections. Beijing considers the island as a renegade province over which it has full authority. China also considers it has the right to speak on behalf of Taiwan.
Taiwan says that right rests with its democratic government. It has complained of Chinese pressure preventing it from accessing real-time information from the WHO during the outbreak of the pandemic.