China says U.S. senators visiting Taiwan on military plane a 'vile
provocation'
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[June 08, 2021]
BEIJING (Reuters) -China's Defence
Ministry on Tuesday denounced a brief weekend visit by three U.S.
senators to Chinese-claimed Taiwan on a U.S. military aircraft as a
"vile political provocation" that was irresponsible and dangerous.
The three senators, Tammy Duckworth, Dan Sullivan and Christopher Coons,
visited Taipei for around three hours on Sunday where they met President
Tsai Ing-wen and announced the donation of 750,000 COVID-19 vaccine
doses for the island.
Unusually, they travelled on a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III
freighter, rather than an unmarked private jet as is generally the case
for senior U.S. visitors.
China's Defence Ministry expressed its strong opposition to the trip and
use of the military aircraft.
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"The U.S. senators visited Taiwan by military plane, using the Taiwan
issue to engage in a 'political show', challenging the one-China
principle and trying to achieve the so-called goal of 'using Taiwan to
control China'", it said.
"This was an extremely vile political provocation".
Beijing says the democratically ruled island is part of "one China" and
routinely denounces visits by foreign officials as an interference in
the country's internal affairs.
The United States, like most countries, has no formal diplomatic ties
with Taiwan but is its strongest international backer and main source of
arms, to China's anger.
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![](../images/060821PICS/news_v41.jpg)
U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dan Sullivan (R-AK) and Chris
Coons (D-DE) wave next to Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu and
Brent Christensen, director of the American Institute in Taiwan,
after their arrival via a U.S. Air Force freighter at Taipei
Songshan Airport in Taipei, Taiwan June 6, 2021. Central News
Agency/Pool via REUTERS
![](../images/ads/current/centraldirect_lda_SPONSOR_2021.png)
China believes Tsai is a separatist bent on declaring
independence. She says Taiwan is already an independent country
called the Republic of China, its official name.
The ministry said the trip damaged the basis of Sino-U.S. ties and
peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, and was "extremely
irresponsible and very dangerous".
The United States must immediately stop any kind of official
exchanges or military relations with Taiwan, it added.
"If anyone dares to separate Taiwan from China, the Chinese People's
Liberation Army will resolutely fight head-on at all costs and
resolutely defend the country's unity and territorial integrity".
(Reporting by Beijing newsroom; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by
Andrew Heavens and Steve Orlofsky)
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