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China to ease military activity around Taiwan, if US adheres to One China policy — MFA

Zhao Lijian stressed that the central government in Beijing was the sole legal authority in Taiwan

BEIJING, August 30. /TASS/. The US government can let the Chinese military ease its activity and tensions in the Taiwan Strait, if it resumes adherence to the One China policy, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a news briefing on Tuesday.

"If the United States really wants to stabilize the situation, it should immediately resume adherence to the One China policy and avoid sending wrong signals to the supporters of so-called Taiwan independence," he said.

Zhao stressed that the central government in Beijing was the sole legal authority in Taiwan. "That the situation in the Taiwan Strait has changed is the fault of the United States and Taiwanese separatists," he summed up.

The White House’s National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said at a briefing on Monday that the United States did not accept the "new normal" of mainland China’s increased military activity near Taiwan and would continue to provide security assistance to the island. Kirby added that Washington did not support the independence of Taipei.

Taiwan has been governed by its local administration since 1949 when the Kuomintang’s remaining forces headed by Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) were defeated in the Chinese Civil War and took refuge on the island. Taiwan has preserved the flag and several other symbols of the Republic of China that had existed before the Communists took over the mainland. Beijing regards the island as one of its provinces.