Beijing lashes Washington for ‘fake’ one China policy on Taiwan

China’s foreign minister has warned Washington not to ‘betray its promises’ during a tense meeting with his US counterpart.

Antony Blinken and Wang Yi meet in Rome on Sunday night. Picture: AFP

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has warned the US not to “betray its promises” on Taiwan during a tense meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, held as Beijing’s threats to the island democracy rise to levels not seen in a quarter of a century.

In an hour-long meeting held on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rome on Sunday night, Mr Wang delivered a stern message on behalf of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“We request that the US pursues a real one-China policy, not a fake one-China policy,” Mr Wang told America’s top diplomat, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry. “We request the US to fulfil its commitments to China, rather than betray its promises.”

The rare meeting – only the second in-person between the current foreign ministers of the world’s two most powerful countries – was held amid rising concerns in Washington, Tokyo, Brussels and Canberra about China’s increased military operations near Taiwan.

America’s top military officer, Mark Milley, last week confirmed reports China had tested hypersonic weapons that could allow it to evade American missile defences. Beijing’s hypersonic capability alarmed many in Taiwan, a self-governed island of 23 million that China considers a wayward province to be reclaimed by force if necessary.

In response, President Joe Biden declared the US would defend Taiwan in the event of an attack by Beijing – an unusually direct statement that went beyond America’s official position of “strategic ambiguity”. Beijing was infuriated again last week when Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen confirmed that US military personnel were training Taiwanese soldiers on the island.

Xin Qiang, deputy director of the Centre for American Studies at Fudan University, said US support of the Tsai government – which he called a “secessionist authority” – was a valid trigger for a military invasion.

“If the Chinese mainland wants to solve the Taiwan question once and for all, the case is a perfect pretext to activate the Anti-Secession Law,” Mr Xin told China’s state media.

Mr Xi’s diplomats – and its Communist Party-controlled propaganda machine – also erupted when Mr Blinken last week called on all UN member states to support Taiwan’s “robust” participation in the global body’s system in forums where statehood is not required. It marked an escalation in the Biden administration’s attempt to push back against Beijing’s campaign to isolate Taiwan’s participation in the international system.

Days later, a senior Chinese Communist Party official outlined life for the island’s residents under the party’s control. Compatriots in Taiwan would be taught “the correct view of history and country”, have their “stability fully guaranteed” and have their “wellbeing improved”, according to a state media report of a speech given by Liu Junchuan, the deputy head of the party’s Taiwan work office.

Alexander Huang, a professor of international relations at Tamkang University in New Taipei, said “quarrels” between Beijing and Washington over the interpretation of America’s “so-called ‘one-China’ policy” were as old as their mutual diplomatic recognition in 1979. Mr Huang said actions by the Biden administration – including championing Taiwan’s participation in the UN system and increasing arm sales to Taiwan following military threats from Beijing – had a long tradition in US foreign policy.

“Joe Biden’s policy is Clintonian,” he told The Australian.

On Monday, the US donated another 1.5 million doses of ­Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine to Taiwan. “Our donation reflects our commitment to Taiwan, a vibrant democracy, valued partner, and trusted friend,” said State Department spokesman Ned Price.

Mr Wang was representing Mr Xi at the G20, as China’s leader continued to work from home in Beijing. Mr Biden said he was “disappointed” by Mr Xi’s in-person absence along with that of Russian President Vladimir Putin.