US sends risk-laden message

The US State Department has removed a statement on its website that it does not support "Taiwan independence". In addition, the page, which was updated last week, has added a reference to Taiwan's cooperation with a Pentagon technology and semiconductor development project, and says that the United States will support the island's membership in international organizations "where applicable". Given that the Taiwan question is a core interest of China and is one of the most sensitive issues in the Sino-US relations, the changes are concerning.

In their telephone talk on Jan 17, President Xi Jinping told then US president-elect Donald Trump that the Taiwan question concerns China's national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and he expressed the hope that the new administration would handle it with caution. Also, in a telephone call one week later, Foreign Minister Wang Yi told US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Taiwan has been an integral part of China since ancient times, and Beijing will never allow the island to be separated from the motherland. Wang reminded Rubio that the US has made solemn commitments to abide by the one-China principle in the three China-US joint communiques and said that it should not renege on them.

Beijing's position on the island's participation in the activities of international organizations is consistent and clear, that is, it must be handled under the one-China principle, which is also a basic principle enshrined in United Nations resolutions.

The Democratic Progressive Party authorities on the island have stubbornly stuck to the separatist position of "Taiwan independence", which means that the political foundation for the island's participation in the activities of international organizations such as the World Health Assembly no longer exists.

It is reasonable for Beijing to interpret what the US State Department has done as the US again playing the trick of "strategic ambiguity" over a question that entails a clear-cut noninterference stance. Washington should be aware of the ripple effect such moves will have on the situation across the Taiwan Strait, and on the development of relations between China and the US. Pushing the envelope on the Taiwan question will only be detrimental to the healthy development of Sino-US ties. The fact that those secessionists on the island responded to the State Department's move by saying that they "welcomed the support and positive stance of the US" suggests that Washington has sent a wrong signal to those who harbor the intention of separating the island from the motherland.

The US administration should be clear that there is a limit to the Chinese mainland's patience and the latter will take whatever action it thinks appropriate if there is any move toward "Taiwan independence" by the secessionists on the island.

The Chinese mainland will do its utmost for the peaceful reunification of Taiwan, but it will never give up the option of reunification by force. Beijing treasures the sound development of Sino-US relations, which it believes is not just in the interest of both countries and both peoples, but also important for world peace and stability. The US administration should really handle the Taiwan question with due caution.

The worsening relations across the Taiwan Strait are not what Beijing, or the world, wants to see. Neither are the worsening relations between the world's two largest economies. The US should earnestly abide by the one-China principle and the commitments it made in the three China-US joint communiques, observe international law and not send any wrong signals to "Taiwan independence" separatist forces.