BEIJING: After a statement from the Group of 7 criticizing Beijing for using military exercises and trade sanctions as retaliation for US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Japanese counterpart A meeting has been adjourned.
Ahead of this week's events organized by ASEAN, Wang was due to meet with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi in Cambodia.
In a regular press conference, spokesperson Hua Chunying said that the Chinese side was deeply disturbed by the statement and given its history in the region, Japan, a G7 member, had no right to comment on the Taiwan issue. After the First Sino-Japanese War, Taiwan was annexed by Japan in 1895.
Hua claimed that Japan, the G7 nations and the European Union are "wrongly criticizing China, confusing morals, and aiding the US to violate Chinese sovereignty." The Chinese people are extremely dissatisfied. The statements made by Beijing's mission to the European Union were echoed by Hua. Claims by G7 and EU diplomats that China is responsible for an "unnecessary escalation" of regional tensions were called "heinous" by a mission spokesman on Wednesday.
When asked about the group's criticism of Beijing for "destabilizing the region", the spokesperson said, "If there are still people in the world who do not understand [evil and shamelessness], please go to the G7 joint statement." Take a look at. And the European Foreign Minister."
The massive air and naval joint exercise that encircled the self-governing island was launched by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) on Thursday and will continue till Sunday afternoon.
Mainland China also banned some Taiwanese goods after Pelosi's visit to the island earlier this week.
On the eve of Thursday's meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Wang rejected the G7 statement and Pelosi's visit. Additionally, he stressed that the US is the "greatest troubleshooter" of the Taiwan Straits.
According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, he said, "The principle of respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity in international relations will become an empty principle if China does not firmly oppose the manic, reckless and extremely irrational actions of the United States."
Wang will continue to meet with foreign ministers at the ASEAN meetings that began in Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh on Wednesday. Foreign ministers from some of the participating neighboring countries as well as ASEAN members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Beijing is focused on "many things", including exercises around Taiwan, according to US-China relations expert Lu Jiang of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). He added that "if the Japanese foreign minister wants to discuss it, I think Beijing will not entertain him."
According to Lu, the farther Japan is away from the Taiwan issue, the better. "The Japanese do not need to answer or provide a solution to the Taiwan question."
Noting that Pelosi's visit demonstrated that Washington had changed the status quo in the Taiwan Strait, Lu argued that the G7's position on the matter was "completely wrong".
Beijing's response displayed "both discipline and strategic fortitude," according to Andy Mok, senior research fellow at the Center for China and Globalization, a non-governmental think tank in Beijing.
Mok said Beijing's handling of Hong Kong's unrest in 2019 "could serve as a guide" as some call for the island's harsh treatment on the mainland.
"Instead of sending the PLA, as some demanded, China instead made systematic changes to implement a national security law that not only eliminated this threat, but also put Hong Kong on a sustainable path." Stability and prosperity."
The G7, an informal group made up of diplomats from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain and the US and EU, said in a joint statement that "there is no justification for using a visit as an excuse for aggression. Military in the Taiwan Strait" action."
According to Mok, some of Washington's allies will not fully support its goals, "just enough to avoid turning the hands of American proxies." He said that the G7 is one of those alliances that the US has worked very hard to build against China.
This is an advantage the US will hold only as long as China gains strength.
Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen thanked the diplomats on Twitter. Dedicated to defending island democracy and the status quo of cross-strait relations, she said, "we will work with like-minded partners to maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific."
Beijing's EU mission accused diplomats of trying to undermine the one-China policy and compared them to the Eight-Nation Alliance, a military alliance of foreign nations that invaded northern China in 1900.
"Do you believe that the China of the past still exists today? Do you believe that you can succeed? Do you believe that you can achieve anything? Long ago, the Chinese people were exposed to threats and manipulation by foreign powers. stood against.
The spokesman continued, "The so-called rules-based international order outlined in their [joint statement] is a devious argument that allows them to do evil while discouraging others from retaliate." Why is the world so unstable and full of wars? Is? Blame this evil and shamelessness.
On Wednesday, when asked about suggestions that the UK should extend military aid to Taiwan, a spokesman for Beijing's embassy in the UK expressed similar views.
He urged British politicians to uphold the one-China principle and "stop making false remarks about Taiwan" and not "underestimating the high sensitivity of the Taiwan issue" or "being misled by the US". The one-China principle, he continued, serves as a cornerstone and prerequisite for diplomatic relations between the two countries.
In a June speech to the House of Commons committee, Truss said the UK should have arms Ukraine as soon as possible. "For Taiwan, we should heed that lesson. The sooner we do it, the better, because every tool we ship requires months of training," Truss said.
Other countries, including Russia, Iran, Syria and Pakistan, have supported Beijing on Taiwan.
China puts trade restrictions on Taiwan
