• Yu Hong is the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Brunei Darussalam.
On August 2, in disregard of China’s strong opposition and repeated serious representations, Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi visited China’s Taiwan region, causing widespread concern.
I would like to take this opportunity to brief on China’s position.
It is well-known that there is but one China in the world, Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory, and the Government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China.
This is at the core of the one-China principle and has become a universal consensus of the international community and a basic norm in international relations. A total of 181 countries in the world have established diplomatic relations with China on this basis.
During the phone call between President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden days ago, President Xi Jinping highlighted that the historical ins and outs of the Taiwan question are crystal clear, and so are the fact and status quo that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one and the same China.
China firmly opposes separatist moves toward “Taiwan independence” and interference by external forces, and never allows any room for “Taiwan independence” forces in whatever form.
Speaker Pelosi’s visit to China’s Taiwan region is a serious violation of the one-China principle and the provisions of the three China-US joint communiqués. It has a severe impact on the political foundation of China-US relations, and seriously infringes upon China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. It gravely undermines peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, marks a major political provocation upgrading the official interactions and substantive relations between US and Taiwan, and sends a seriously wrong signal to the separatist forces for “Taiwan independence”. China firmly opposes and sternly condemns this.
More than 160 countries already have made their voice of justice heard. They reiterated their commitment to the one-China policy and expressed support for China’s efforts to firmly uphold its sovereignty and territorial integrity. This is a fight against hegemony, against interference and against secession.
The Taiwan Strait is facing a new round of tensions and severe challenges, and the fundamental cause is the repeated moves by the Taiwan authorities and the United States to change the status quo, for which the responsibility rests entirely with the Taiwan authorities and the United States.
The Taiwan authorities have kept seeking US support for their independence agenda. They refuse to recognise the 1992 Consensus, go all out to push forward “de-sinicisation”, and promote “incremental independence”.
The United States, for its part, has been attempting to use Taiwan to contain China. It constantly distorts, obscures and hollows out the one-China principle, steps up its official exchanges with Taiwan, and emboldens “Taiwan independence” separatist activities. The US is the unprovoked provocateur and creator of crisis. The biggest threat to changing the status quo in the Taiwan Strait and undermining regional peace and stability is the United States and the DPP authorities.
China has acted in legitimate self-defense only after the US made this egregious provocation. If those countries who spoke up accusing China of “overreacting” truly care about regional peace and stability, they should have had stood up and tried to dissuade Pelosi early on. They should have had resolutely opposed “incremental independence” by Taiwan authorities.
The position of the Chinese Government and people on the Taiwan question has been consistent. It is the firm commitment of the more than 1.4 billion Chinese people to resolutely safeguard state sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The comprehensive measures taken by China now and in the future are necessary and timely counteractions for defense. China’s countermeasures are justified, legitimate and proportionate.
The joint exercise and training operations are open, transparent and professional, conducted in line with China’s domestic law, international law and international practice.
China’s countermeasures are necessary as a warning to the provocateurs and a punishment to the Taiwan independence forces, as a step to uphold China’s sovereignty and security, a step to safeguard regional peace and stability, and a step to defend the basic norms of international law and international relations.
The one-China principle is the political foundation of China-Brunei relations. His Majesty Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and the Brunei Government adhere to the one-China principle. We believe that the international community will firmly abide by the one-China principle, firmly support China’s just position to oppose “Taiwan independence” separatist activities, resist external forces to deliberately create troubles and interfere in China’s internal affairs, and safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.