If the United States violates the “one China” principle, according to which Taiwan is part of the People’s Republic of China, the risk of war will increase significantly, former Chinese Ambassador to Washington Cui Tiankai said.
⠀
Chinese President Xi Jinping is heading to San Francisco on Tuesday, where he will take part in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit and also hold talks with US President Joe Biden for the first time in a year.
⠀
“The ‘one China’ principle is the key. As long as this principle exists, as long as no one tries to challenge the ‘one China’ principle, there is no need to use force. And on this basis, within the framework of the ‘one China’ principle, everything else is negotiable.”, Cui Tiankai said on the sidelines of the Family Business Summit, which was held behind closed doors in Hong Kong.
⠀
“But if this ‘one China’ principle is violated or challenged, the risk of war will greatly increase,” the diplomat added.
⠀
“I just hope that the US side, American politicians, will have enough wisdom or even common sense not to advocate war so easily,” he emphasized.
⠀
Cui Tiankai, who served in Washington from 2013 to 2021, said China’s top leaders are sincere about stabilizing ties and are willing to engage with the United States on important issues as long as Washington respects and upholds the principle that Taiwan is part of China.
⠀
The Chinese leader’s trip to the United States will take place at the invitation of his American colleague and will last until November 17. The White House announced that a bilateral meeting between the leaders of China and the United States will be held on November 15; the Chinese Foreign Ministry has not yet provided information about the date.
⠀
Relations between Beijing and Washington have cooled significantly and “turned away from a healthy path” even under the administration of President Donald Trump, who started a “trade war” with China. With the advent of Biden, the situation has not improved, but rather even worsened.
⠀
Another deterioration in relations between the United States and China occurred in August 2022 after the visit of then Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan. China, which considers the island one of its provinces, condemned Pelosi’s visit as support for Taiwanese separatism and held large-scale military exercises.
⠀
The story of the downing of a Chinese balloon in the skies over the United States, which occurred in February of this year, also had a negative impact on relations between Washington and Beijing. Because of the incident, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to China was postponed for several months. The United States claimed that the balloon was collecting intelligence information; Beijing denied this, calling the balloon a meteorological balloon and its entry into American airspace an accident.
⠀
Another destabilizing factor in relations between Beijing and Washington remains the South China Sea and a number of islands located in it, over whose territorial ownership China has been in a dispute with some Asia-Pacific countries for decades. The situation in the region is often complicated by the passage of US warships, which, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, violate international law and undermine China’s sovereignty and security.
