Beijing says US sending ‘wrong signals’ on Taiwan

Beijing accused Washington of sending “very wrong, dangerous signals” on Taiwan after the US secretary of state told his Chinese counterpart that the maintenance of peace and stability over Taiwan was vitally important.

Taiwan was the focus of the 90-minute, “direct and honest” talks between the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and the Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, on the margins of the UN general assembly in New York, a senior US official told reporters.

“The secretary made crystal clear that – in accordance with our long-standing one-China policy … the maintenance of peace and stability across the strait is absolutely, vitally important,” the US official said.

China’s foreign ministry, in a statement on the meeting, said the more rampant Taiwan’s independence activity, the less likely there would be a peaceful settlement. “The Taiwan issue is an internal Chinese matter, and the United States has no right to interfere in what method will be used to resolve it,” the ministry cited Wang as saying.