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China-Japan-Koreas
Xi: Improper Handling of Taiwan Issues Will Hit China-US Ties
2022-03-21
[ToloNews] Chinese President Xi Jinping told his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden on Friday that the Taiwan issue needs to be handled properly to avoid a negative impact on Sino-U.S. relations, according to Chinese media.

China says Taiwan, which it views as a breakaway province to be brought back to the fold, by force if necessary, is the most sensitive and important issue in its relations with the United States.

Washington, which is seeking Beijing's help in restoring peace in Ukraine after Russia's Feb. 24 invasion, has no formal diplomatic ties with Taipei but is Taiwan's most important international backer and arms supplier.

"Some individuals in the United States are sending the wrong signals to pro-independence forces in Taiwan, and that's very dangerous," Xi told Biden on a video call.

"If the Taiwan issue is not handled properly, it will have a subversive impact on the relationship between the two countries."

China sailed its aircraft carrier Shandong through the Taiwan Strait, shadowed by a U.S. destroyer, on Friday, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters, just hours before the Chinese and U.S. presidents were due to talk.

A White House statement said Biden reiterated in the call with Xi that U.S. policy on Taiwan has not changed, and emphasized that Washington "continues to oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo."

China has over the past two years stepped up its military activity near the island to assert its sovereignty claims.

"(We) hope the U.S. side will pay adequate attention" to the issue, Xi told Biden.

Taiwan's Foreign Ministry expressed thanks to Biden for his "emphasis on maintaining the status quo of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, as well as his firm support for Taiwan's security".

It called on China to take concrete actions and condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Taiwan, which rejects China's sovereignty claims, has joined in Western-led sanctions against Russia and sent humanitarian aid for Ukrainian refugees.

Xi also told Biden that the war in Ukraine must end as soon as possible, according to Chinese state media.

All parties should jointly support the Russia-Ukraine dialogue while the United States and NATO should also conduct talks with Russia to solve the "crux" of the Ukraine crisis, Xi said.
Related:
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Taiwan: 2022-03-18 Wither Hybrid War
Posted by:Frank G

#7  Sure, let's have war on two fronts. With two nuclear armed major powers that care a hundred times more about Ukraine and Taiwan than we would (or should) ever care
Posted by: Chusoger Thrusosh4089   2022-03-21 12:49  

#6  Except that as soon as they get to a satellite phone or the internet they cans start finding their way home — or out of Russia, at least.
Posted by: trailing wife   2022-03-21 12:43  

#5   @4

It seems Putin is doing the Stalin thing of displacing people's he doesn't like. Ukrainians will be scattered in Russia to dilute them and Russians moved into the Ukraine to make it Russia.
Posted by: DarthVader   2022-03-21 09:25  

#4  Putin 'deports Ukrainians to camps': Russia is accused of genocide by putting refugees in 'filtration' centres and forcibly taking them to remote Siberian towns after confiscating their phones and documents
Posted by: Skidmark   2022-03-21 08:48  

#3  /\ That's it, go over there and stir things up.
Posted by: Besoeker   2022-03-21 07:44  

#2  Biden administration intends to declare that Myanmar's years-long repression of the Rohingya Muslim population is a 'genocide'
Posted by: Skidmark   2022-03-21 07:41  

#1  US admiral says China fully militarized at least three of several Spratly Islands it built in the disputed South China Sea
Posted by: Skidmark   2022-03-21 07:21  

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