Taipei: China on Monday warned the US that relations between the two countries could be “severely damaged” if it did not cancel its upcoming economic talks with Taiwan. Senior US officials are expected to participate in the US-Taiwan economic dialogue.
During the press conference, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told the US that “by closing all official talks with Taiwan, preventing serious damage to the Sino-US relationship and maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.”
According to reports in the Taiwanese media, Keith Krach, the US Minister for Economic Development, Energy and Environmental Affairs, is coming to the island country this weekend for economic and commercial talks with Taiwan’s government. Earlier, US Health Minister Alex Azar visited Taiwan last month.
Azar is the first top US leader to visit the island nation after the formal relationship between the US and Taiwan government ended in 1979. It is feared that China will be further angered by Krach’s visit to the US minister. China considers autonomous Taiwan as part of its country and is against the island nation’s bilateral contacts and relations with other countries.
