Taiwan issue 'important, sensitive in Sino-US ties'

China’s Foreign Ministry on Monday slammed the US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar’s ongoing visit to Taiwan, urging the US side to stop official interactions and contact of all kinds, as well as the upgrading of substantive relations with the island.

The remarks were made by Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian when responding to a query about Azar’s ongoing visit at a press briefing in Beijing.

Azar is in Taipei for a three-day visit billed as the highest level visit from the United States since Washington broke off official ties with Taipei in 1979.

China has protested Azar’s visit as a betrayal of US commitments not to have official contact with Taiwan.

“I would like to stress again that the Taiwan issue is the most important and sensitive issue in China-US relations,” Zhao said. “What the US has done seriously violated its commitment on the Taiwan issue.

“We urge the US side to abide by the one-China principle and the provisions of three China-US joint communiques, stop official interactions and contact of all kinds as well as the upgrading of substantive relations with the island, and handle Taiwan-related issues in a prudent and proper manner” he said.

Azar arrived in Taiwan on Sunday. Early Monday, he met Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen.

The visit comes during a period of deteriorating relations between China and the United States. Azar’s visit was facilitated by the 2018 passage of the Taiwan Travel Act, which encouraged Washington to send higher-level officials to Taiwan after decades during which such contacts were rare.

The last US Cabinet minister to visit Taiwan was in 2014 when the then head of the Environmental Protection Agency led a delegation.