Chinese mainland warns US not to interfere in Taiwan affairs

APD NEWS

text

Chinese mainland authorities have reiterated that it opposes the United States selling weapons to Taiwan, after the Trump administration approved the marketing license required for American manufacturers to sell technology to Taiwan that would allow for building submarines.

"The mainland firmly opposes any governmental exchange and military links between the US and Taiwan, as well as all forms of arms sales to the island," Ma Xiaoguang, the spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, told reporters at a regular briefing on Wednesday.

When answering the question on Trump's new National Security Advisor John Bolton's possible visit to the island in June, Ma said the Taiwan issue concerns China's key national interests and Beijing will not make any compromise on the issue.

US President Donald Trump and National Security Advisor John Bolton.

Taiwan is China's territory and part of China, and the mainland urged the US to abide by the one-China principle and three China-US joint communiqués that acknowledge there's one China and the mainland and Taiwan are parts of China, Ma said.

President Xi Jinping met a former vice president of Kuomintang (KMT) in Hainan on Tuesday, on the sideline of Boao Forum for Asia.

Xi told Vincent Siew, the head of the Cross-Straits Common Market Foundation, that the island's business community should shun the idea of "Taiwan independence" and promote peace and stable strait ties.

At the press conference, Ma said the annual Strait Forum will be held in Fujian Province in June.

The forum, started in 2009, is a non-governmental platform that aims to promote grassroots economic and trade and people exchange.

When answering questions on the reports on the jailed Taiwan resident Lee Ming-che, Ma said Lee is being treated with basic human rights in prison.

Lee is in good health and his right of communication with the outside world is also guaranteed, the spokesman said.

Lee was sentenced to five years of imprisonment after pleading guilty for subversion in September 2017. He is now serving his jail term in a prison in Hunan.

(CGTN)