China firmly opposes US inclusion of Taiwan in new foreign aid bill: State Council
International Desk
China strongly opposes the inclusion of Taiwan in the $95 billion foreign aid package recently passed by the US Senate and views it as a violation of the one-China principle, Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the Chinese State Council, said on Wednesday.
Late on Tuesday, the Senate passed a legislative package providing security assistance to Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific region, sending it to President Joe Biden's desk. The bill includes $8.12 billion in funding for security initiatives in the Indo-Pacific region, with $2 billion in foreign military financing for Taiwan and other partners.
"The clauses in the relevant US congressional bill that include Taiwan gravely violate of the One China principle and the provisions of the three China-US joint communiques and send a wrong signal to the separatist forces favoring Taiwan's independence. We strongly oppose it," Zhu told a press conference.
Beijing also calls on Washington to act on its commitment not to support Taiwan's independence and "stop arming Taiwan in any way."
Taiwan has been governed independently of mainland China since 1949. Beijing views the island as its province, while Taiwan — a territory with its own elected government — maintains that it is an autonomous country but stops short of declaring independence. Beijing opposes any official contacts of foreign states with Taipei and considers Chinese sovereignty over the island indisputable.
