US Ambassador to UN to visit Taiwan, China threatens 'heavy price'

UNITED NATIONS: US Ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft will travel to Taiwan and reinforce the US government's "strong and ongoing support" for Taipei's international space, a visit China says it "firmly opposes" and warned that Washington will "pay a heavy price for its wrong action."

The US Mission to the UN said in a statement on Thursday that Craft will travel to Taipei on January 13-15 for meetings with senior Taiwan counterparts and members of the diplomatic community.

"During her trip, the Ambassador will reinforce the US government's strong and ongoing support for Taiwan's international space," the statement said.


Craft will also deliver remarks on January 14 at the Institute of Diplomacy and International Affairs on Taiwan's "impressive contributions" to the global community and the "importance of Taiwan's meaningful and expanded participation in international organisations.

The Chinese mission to the UN said Beijing "firmly opposes" Craft's visit to Taiwan.

"There is only one China in the world and the Taiwan region is an inalienable part of China's territory. The Government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole China," a spokesperson of the Permanent Mission of China to the United Nations said in a statement.

The spokesperson added that the United States made an explicit commitment on this in the three China-US joint communiques, including the 1979 Joint Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations.

"The United States will not succeed in its attempt to harm China's core interests through political manipulation on the Taiwan question. We wish to remind the United States that whoever plays with fire will burn himself.

"The United States will pay a heavy price for its wrong action. China strongly urges the United States to stop its crazy provocation, stop creating new difficulties for China-US relations and the two countries' cooperation in the United Nations, and stop going further on the wrong path," the spokesperson said.

The Chinese Mission further said that Beijing "firmly opposes any forms of official contacts between the United States and the Taiwan region. This position is consistent and clear," and added that the Taiwan question concerns China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and involves China's core interests.

It said that the one-China principle is widely recognized by the international community and is a basic norm of international relations affirmed by the UN General Assembly resolution 2758.