China tells US to ‘refrain from intervening’ in Taiwan election

BEIJING –  China on Thursday called on the US to “refrain from intervening” in self-ruled Taiwan’s elections, slamming official visits between the island and the US after Washington said it would send a delega­tion there following this week’s polls.

Washington must “refrain from intervening in the elections in the Taiwan region in any form, so as to avoid causing serious damage to China-US re­lations”, foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said. “China always firmly opposes any form of of­ficial exchanges between the US and Taiwan,” she added, following Washington’s announcing plans to send an “unofficial” delegation to Taiwan after a crucial election on the self-ruled island.

“There is only one China in the world, and Tai­wan is an inalienable part of China,” she added.

Mao also condemned a US warning to Beijing against stoking tensions over the polls.

China “expresses strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition to the American side’s brazen chattering about the elections in the Taiwan re­gion,” she said. “Taiwan is the core of China’s core interests and is the number one red line that must not be transgressed in the China-US relationship,” Mao stressed. “We urge the US side… to take practi­cal actions to deliver on the commitments made by the two countries’ leaders,” she said.