Beijing affirms opposition to exploiting Taiwan question

Beijing has expressed firm opposition to certain countries for using the Taiwan question as an excuse to strengthen regional military deployments and provoke confrontations, undermining regional peace and stability.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning highlighted the importance of adhering to the one-China principle to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait after it was reported that the United States is drawing up contingency plans for military deployments in Japan and the Philippines in case of an emergency over Taiwan.

"Taiwan is an inseparable part of China's territory, and the Taiwan question is a matter of China's internal affairs," Mao said while rejecting relevant countries exploiting the Taiwan question to stir up tensions.

The spokeswoman also highly commended Russia for its just stance against using Taiwan to contain China after Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko reiterated Moscow's backing of China's position on the Taiwan question.

Rudenko said in an interview on Sunday that the United States violated the one-China principle and strengthened military-political contacts with the Taiwan region while accusing Washington of "generating a crisis in Asia to suit its own selfish interests".

"The one-China principle is a broad consensus of the international community and a fundamental norm in international relations," Mao said, expressing appreciation for Russia's adherence to the principle.

In another development, Mao urged Lithuania to return to the correct path of adhering to the one-China principle to create favorable conditions for the normalization of bilateral ties after Lithuania's incoming prime minister Gintautas Paluckas said his government would seek to restore ties with China.

Beijing downgraded the diplomatic relations with Vilnius to the level of charge d'affaires, following the Baltic state allowing the Taiwan authorities to set up a "Taiwanese Representative Office" on its soil in 2021.

"It is well known that Lithuania's erroneous actions on the Taiwan question are the fundamental reason for the difficulties in China-Lithuania relations," Mao said.

She emphasized that China's door for dialogue is always open while urging Lithuania to abide by the political commitments made in the joint communique on the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.