On  2 August, in disregard of China’s strong opposition and serious  representations, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy  Pelosi visited China’s Taiwan region. This is a serious violation of the  one-China principle and the provisions of the three China-U.S. joint  communiqués. It has a severe impact on the political foundation of  China-U.S. relations, and seriously infringes upon China’s sovereignty  and territorial integrity. It gravely undermines peace and stability  across the Taiwan Strait, and sends a seriously wrong signal to the  separatist forces for “Taiwan independence”. China firmly opposes and  sternly condemns this, and has made serious démarche and strong protest  to the United States.

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 has been clearly recognized by United Nations  General Assembly Resolution 2758 of 1971. Since the founding of the  People’s Republic of China in 1949, 181 countries have established  diplomatic relations with China on the basis of the one-China principle.  The one-China principle is a universal consensus of the international  community and a basic norm in international relations.

In 1979,  the United States made a clear commitment in the China-U.S. Joint  Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations — “The United  States of America recognizes the Government of the People’s Republic of  China as the sole legal Government of China. Within this context, the  people of the United States will maintain cultural, commercial, and  other unofficial relations with the people of Taiwan.” Congress, as a  part of the U.S. Government, is inherently obliged to strictly observe  the one-China policy of the U.S. Government and refrain from having any  official exchanges with China’s Taiwan region. China is all along  opposed to the visit to Taiwan by U.S. congressional members, and the  U.S. executive branch has the responsibility to stop such visit. Since  Speaker Pelosi is the incumbent leader of the U.S. Congress, her visit  to and activities in Taiwan, in whatever form and for whatever reason,  is a major political provocation to upgrade U.S. official exchanges with  Taiwan. China absolutely does not accept this, and the Chinese people  absolutely reject this.

The Taiwan question is the most important  and most sensitive issue at the very heart of China-U.S. relations. 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. The Taiwan  authorities have kept seeking U.S. support for their independence  agenda. They refuse to recognize the 1992 Consensus, go all out to push  forward “de-sinicization”, 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. These moves, like  playing with fire, are extremely dangerous. Those who play with fire  will perish by it.

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. It is the common  aspiration and sacred responsibility of all Chinese sons and daughters  to realize the complete reunification of the motherland. The will of the  people is not to be defied, and the trend of the times cannot be  reversed. No country, no forces and no individual should ever  misestimate the firm resolve, strong will and great capability of the  Chinese Government and people to defend state sovereignty and  territorial integrity and to achieve national reunification and  rejuvenation. China will definitely take all necessary measures to  resolutely safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity in  response to the U.S. Speaker’s visit. All the consequences arising  therefrom must be borne by the U.S. side and the “Taiwan independence”  separatist forces.

China and the United States are two major  countries. The right way for them to deal with each other lies only in  mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, no-confrontation and win-win  cooperation. The Taiwan question is purely an internal affair of China,  and no other country is entitled to act as a judge on the Taiwan  question. China strongly urges the United States to stop playing the  “Taiwan card” and using Taiwan to contain China. It should stop meddling  on Taiwan and interfering in China’s internal affairs. It should stop  supporting and conniving at “Taiwan independence” separatist forces in  any form. It should stop its acts of saying one thing but doing the  opposite on the Taiwan question. It should stop distorting, obscuring  and hollowing out the one-China principle. It must take credible actions  to observe strictly the one-China principle and the provisions of the  three China-U.S. joint communiqués, deliver on the “five noes”  commitment made by the U.S. leadership (i.e. not seek a “new Cold War”;  not seek to change China’s system; the revitalization of its alliances  is not against China; not support “Taiwan independence”; not look for  conflict with China), and not go further down the wrong and dangerous  path.