Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Washington should stand by a commitment not to support independence for Taiwan.
Wang said Taiwan's election, won by Lai Ching-te, the current vice president, did not alter the Chinese position that the island is part of China and that the biggest challenge in US-China relations is the issue of “Taiwan independence," according to a statement from the ministry.
This came during Wang's meeting with US national security adviser Jake Sullivan in Thailand.
Wang and Sullivan previously met on the Mediterranean island nation of Malta and in Vienna last year before the Biden-Xi meeting in California.
China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its own territory and in recent years has shown its displeasure at political activities in Taiwan by sending military planes and ships.
US President Joe Biden has said he does not support independence, but US law requires a credible defense for Taiwan and for the US to treat all threats to the island as matters of “grave concern.”
Earlier Saturday, Taiwan’s defense ministry said China had sent more than 30 warplanes and a group of navy ships toward the island during a 24-hour period, including 13 warplanes that crossed the midline of the Taiwan Strait — an unofficial boundary that’s considered a buffer between its territory and the mainland.
