China sets condition for resuming talks with US

Washington must dispel Nancy Pelosi’s ‘negative influence’ before seeking cooperation, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has said

Washington must address the damage that US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) did with her visit to Taiwan earlier this month before expecting any cooperation from Beijing on climate-related issues, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has warned.

“The US side should dispel the negative influence of Pelosi scuttling to Taiwan,” the ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. “This is an indispensable condition of China-US climate change cooperation.”

The statement apparently came in response to an interview in which Washington’s special envoy on climate change, John Kerry, told the Financial Times that he hoped to resume talks with China before the UN’s COP27 climate summit in November. Kerry has claimed that China “punishes the world” by severing climate ties with the US, ending cooperation between the planet’s two largest emitters of greenhouse gasses.

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However, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Beijing will continue to participate in international forums on climate change. China cut climate and military ties with the US after Pelosi defied its warnings against visiting Taiwan. The controversial visit undermined Chinese sovereignty, damaged US-China relations and encouraged separatists in Taipei, Beijing has claimed.

China claims to hold sovereignty over Taiwan, a position that the US has acknowledged, but not endorsed, since the 1970s. As speaker of the House, Pelosi is the third-ranking person in the US government. Multiple American political delegations have made visits to Taipei since late last year, including five just this month, exacerbating tensions with China. On Tuesday, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey became the latest US leader to arrive in Taiwan.

“There is only one China in the world,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters on Wednesday. “Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory. China firmly rejects any official interaction between the US and Taiwan in any form and in any name.”

READ MORE: US to expedite arms shipments to Taiwan

Asked about a report suggesting that Taipei planned to order Boeing jets at the urging of US Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), Zhao said US politicians only use visits to the self-governing island as a fund-raising tactic. “The DPP (Democratic Progressive Party) authorities have been squandering the hard-earned money of the people of Taiwan and have been reduced to an ATM for US politicians to seek selfish gains.”

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