China summons US ambassador, warns America shall 'pay price' as Pelosi visits Taiwan

Agencies | Beijing

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

China has summoned the American envoy to lodge a stern protest over Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi's high-profile visit to Taipei, warning that Washington will "pay a price" for its "mistakes" and asked it to stop using the Taiwan issue to contain China in any form.

China also carried out live-fire missile drills in Taiwan Straits, and have released a number of Chinese fighter jets near Taiwanese airspace. 

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng "urgently summoned" the US Ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns, late Tuesday night and lodged stern representations and strong protests over Pelosi's visit.

Noting that the US side shall "pay the price" for its "mistakes" for going ahead with the visit disregarding stern warnings from Beijing, Xie urged the US to immediately address its wrongdoings, take practical measures to undo the adverse effects caused by Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The US must not go further down the wrong path, escalating tensions and making the situation across the Taiwan Strait and China-US relations irreparable, Xie said.

He added that the US should stop playing the "Taiwan card", stop using Taiwan to contain China in any form, and stop interfering in China's internal affairs.

Stating that Pelosi risks universal condemnation for deliberately provoking and playing with fire, Xie said this is a serious violation of the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communique.

"The move is extremely egregious in nature and the consequences are extremely serious. China will not sit idly by," Xie said.

The visit has a severe impact on the political foundation of China-US relations, and seriously infringes on China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, he said, adding that it gravely undermines peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and sends a seriously wrong signal to the separatist forces for "Taiwan independence".

Xie said the US government must be held accountable as it says one thing and does another, constantly distorting and hollowing out the one-China principle.

"The US has deleted key expressions such as 'Taiwan is part of China' from the State Department website, put Taiwan in its so-called 'Indo-Pacific strategy', openly upgraded its ties with Taiwan and increased arms sales to the region and supported separatist activities for 'Taiwan independence'," he said.