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China has issued a major threat to Joe Biden, according to BBC.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters, “China firmly opposes the U.S.’s invitation to the Taiwan authorities to participate in the so-called Democracy Summit.”
“Those who play with fire get burned,” Zhao added.
China rejects Taiwan independence an views Taiwan as a breakaway province that will be reunified with the mainland one day.
While the U.S. has formal ties with China, the U.S. also pledges to help Taiwan defend itself in the event of an attack.
The self-rule of the island of Taiwan remains the most sensitive issue between Biden-Xi talks.
“We solemnly urge the U.S. to … stop providing a platform to ‘Taiwan independence’ forces,” Zhao said.
From Military News:
Zhao’s comments came after China launched a nationwide probe into the activities of companies under Taiwan’s Far Eastern Group, which is a donor to Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the party of president Tsai Ing-wen.
Some of the companies had been fined for environmental and other violations, amid a crackdown on “diehard secessionists.”
“We will never allow [companies] that support Taiwan secession … or those that bite the hand that feeds them, to make money [here],” China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Zhu Fenglian told reporters.
Taiwan secessionists, their affiliated enterprises and their investors must be punished, he said.
From BBC:
The world’s two most powerful nations do not see eye-to-eye on a number of issues, and Mr Biden raised US concerns about human rights abuses in Hong Kong and against Uyghurs in the north-west region of Xinjiang. China accuses the US of meddling in its domestic affairs.
On trade, Mr Biden highlighted the “need to protect American workers and industries from the PRC’s [People’s Republic of China’s] unfair trade and economic practices”.
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Mr Xi also appeared to have made a strong comment on the issue, with Reuters reporting that he had told Mr Biden that the US needed to stop “abusing the concept of national security to oppress Chinese companies”.
Climate change was also discussed. Last week the two sprung a surprise by issuing a joint declaration to address climate change, at talks in Glasgow, Scotland.
This was the third time the two leaders have spoken since Mr Biden’s inauguration in January. The talks lasted three-and-a-half hours, longer than expected.
Mr Xi has not left China in nearly two years, since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
