White House Summons Chinese Ambassador Over Taiwan Response
The White House summoned China’s ambassador on Thursday to condemn Beijing’s response over Pelosi’s visit to the Chinese Island, reiterating that the United States does not want a crisis in the region.
“After China’s actions overnight, we summoned [People’s Republic of China] Ambassador Qin Gang to the White House to démarche him about the PRC’s provocative actions,” White House spokesman John Kirby said in a statement provided to The Washington Post.
“We condemned the PRC’s military actions, which are irresponsible and at odds with our long-standing goal of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.” A démarche is a protest lodged through diplomatic channels.
China’s show of force against Taiwan on Thursday included firing missiles into the sea and conducting area-denial tasks.
The White House also reiterated to Qin that it wanted to keep all lines of communication open and that nothing had changed about the United States’ one-China policy, which stipulates that there is a single Chinese entity and no independent enclaves. But the White House also stressed that it found Beijing’s actions unacceptable and would stand up for its values in the Indo-Pacific.
A Chinese mainland spokesman said on Thursday it's justified for the mainland to take necessary countermeasures to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity after United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan.
Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, made the remarks after the G7 foreign ministers and the High Representative of the European Union issued a statement on Wednesday saying the mainland's military exercise and economic countermeasures in response to the visit risk "increasing tensions and destabilizing the region".
"The Taiwan question is not a 'regional' issue, but China's internal affair," Ma said, adding Pelosi's visit to Taiwan is not a defense of "democracy and freedom", but a provocation and violation of China's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Ma urged relevant organizations and individuals to stop defending separatist forces and anyone who interferes in other country's internal affairs, honor their commitments on the Taiwan question with concrete action and abide by the one-China principle.