Global Courant
LONDON – The Chinese embassy in London on Sunday condemned a meeting between British Security Minister Tom Tugendhat and Taiwan’s Digital Affairs Minister.
Reuters reported on Friday that Mr Tugendhat, the state minister of security, met Taiwan’s Digital Affairs Minister Audrey Tang on Wednesday on a rare high-level ministerial trip to Britain. A source said they discussed mutual security interests.
China views democratically-governed Taiwan as part of its territory and strongly objects to alleged foreign interference in the island.
“This move is a serious violation of the One China Principle and basic standards of international relations,” a spokesman for China’s embassy in London said in a statement.
“It sends a gravely wrong signal to the separatist ‘independence of Taiwan’ forces and grossly interferes in China’s internal affairs. China deeply regrets this and firmly opposes it.”
Britain only has formal diplomatic relations with Beijing, but has a de facto embassy in Taipei. Although young British ministers hold talks with their Taiwanese counterparts, the agreement was that senior British ministers do not meet Taiwanese officials.
Mr Tugendhat, who was sanctioned by China two years ago for speaking out on alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang, is not a full cabinet minister but attends cabinet meetings in his role as minister of security, where he is responsible for counter-terrorism, domestic state threats and economic crime.
“We want to make it clear to the British side that any actions that undermine China’s interests will be met with a decisive response,” the spokesman for the Chinese embassy said. REUTERS
