Foreign Ministry lodges response to Taiwan exchanges

The Foreign Ministry on Sunday expressed indignation and opposition toward countries that have diplomatic ties with China engaging in any forms of official exchanges with Taiwan.

Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang made the remarks in an online statement after senior officials in the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan sent congratulations to Tsai Ing-wen, who won Taiwan's leadership election on Saturday.

Noting the election in Taiwan is China's local affair, Geng said such moves violate the one-China principle, which is the basic norm governing international relations and has been widely accepted by the international community.

China has lodged stern representations to relevant countries, he added.

The Taiwan question concerns China's core interests, he said, adding he hopes relevant countries could abide by the one-China principle and not develop official ties or engage in official exchanges with Taiwan.

He also urged relevant countries to prudently and properly handle Taiwan-related issues, avoid sending wrong signals to "Taiwan independence" separatists, and take concrete actions to support the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations and safeguard bilateral ties with China.