Stung China warns as U.S. delegation meets Taiwanese President-elect Lai

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Chinese officials warned the U.S. on Monday to use “extreme prudence” in relations with Taiwan and suggested a delegation of former U.S. officials sent by the Biden administration to congratulate Taiwanese President-elect Lai Ching-te was being closely watched by Beijing.

China has accused Mr. Lai and Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party of favoring independence for the island nation of nearly 24 million people, an island China’s communist regime has vowed one day to claim as its own. Mr. Lai’s resounding win in Saturday’s vote was a major setback for Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“The elections in Taiwan are the affairs of a region in China,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said when asked about the U.S. delegation’s visit to Taiwan. “China firmly opposes the U.S. having any form of official interaction with Taiwan and interfering in Taiwan affairs in any way or under any pretext.”

The comments as Beijing flexed its own diplomatic muscles with the announcement that the South Pacific island nation of Nauru — one of just a handful of countries in the world that recognizes Taiwan, would sever ties with Taipei and establish diplomatic ties with the mainland.

The decision by Nauru was widely seen to have been engineered by Beijing in response to Mr. Lai’s election victory on Saturday.

“China appreciates and welcomes the decision of the government of the Republic of Nauru,” Ms. Ning told reporters in Beijing, adding that “there is but one China in the world [and] Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory.”

The development reduces Taiwan’s number of official diplomatic allies around the world to just 12, a group that notably does not include the United States. 

The U.S. backs Taiwan militarily and maintains unofficial diplomatic ties. But the Biden administration, like successive U.S. administrations before it, adheres to the “One China” policy, under which Washington does not technically recognize Taiwanese independence from China.

The issue has hung in the backdrop of the Taiwanese elections, which were held in defiance of China’s sovereignty claims and threats to one day annex the island democracy by military force. The unofficial U.S. delegation to Taipei had a high-powered roster, led by former National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley and former Deputy Secretary of State James B. Steinberg. 

“Taiwan’s democracy has set a shining example for the world, a democratic success story based on transparency, the rule of law and respect for human rights and freedoms,” said Mr. Hadley, who told reporters that America’s commitment to Taiwan is “rock solid.” 

Mr. Steinberg struck a more cautious tone, saying U.S. bipartisan support for Taiwan is “based on our unofficial but warm relationship, our insistence on exclusively peaceful means to address the cross [Taiwan Strait] issues, the importance of dialogue and the avoidance of unilateral efforts to change the status quo.”

In addition to meeting with Mr. Lai, the delegation met with outgoing Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and Vice President-elect Bi-khim Hsiao, the island democracy’s former de facto ambassador to the U.S.

Mr. Lai told reporters that “democracy and freedom” are not only the “most valuable assets of the Taiwanese people,” they are “the core value of Taiwan and the United States, and the basis of the long-term partnership between Taiwan and the United States.”

“Although China continues to intrude on Taiwan with military and other ’gray-zone’ activities, Taiwan is still able to deal with it calmly and work together with the United States and other international partners who share the same philosophy to maintain the status quo of stability in the Taiwan Strait,” the president-elect said. Gray-zone activities refer to the use of military and socio-economic pressure short of outright armed conflict.

Unease has swirled in Washington over how Taiwan’s election may impact tense U.S.-China relations. U.S. analysts have expressed concern China may engage in increased military provocations comparable to what Beijing unleashed in 2022 after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made the highest-level official U.S. visit to Taiwan in a quarter-century. There were virtually no direct communications between Taipei and Beijing during Mr. Tsai’s two four-year terms in power.

In Beijing on Monday, Ms. Ning said Chinese leaders “urge the U.S. to have a clear understanding of the extreme complexity and sensitivity of the Taiwan question…and not [seek] to use [it] as a tool to contain China.”

“The U.S. needs to exercise extreme prudence in handling Taiwan-related issues, and must not obscure and hollow out the one-China principle in any form,” said the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman.

Her remarks came a day after the ministry sharply criticized U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken for issuing a statement congratulating Mr. Lai. While the statement was neutral, Beijing accused Mr. Blinken of sending “a gravely wrong signal to the ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces” and of violating a U.S. commitment to maintain only unofficial ties with Taiwan.