UNITED NATIONS (AP) \u2014 China underscored its commitment Saturday to its claim on Taiwan, telling assembled world leaders that anyone who gets in the way of its determination to reunify with the self-governing island would be \u201ccrushed by the wheels of history.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The language was forceful but, for Chinese leadership, well within the realm of normal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOnly when China is fully reunified can there be true peace across the Taiwan Strait,\u201d Wang Yi, China\u2019s foreign minister, said at the U.N. General Assembly. He said Beijing would \u201ctake the most forceful steps to oppose external interference.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
China regularly and vehemently defends its claim to Taiwan, which separated from the mainland after a 1949 civil war and now functions with its own government. A\u00a0visit last month\u00a0by the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi,\u00a0markedly ratcheted up\u00a0tensions between Washington and Beijing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The language, while pointed, reflected China\u2019s typical intensity about the island; its claim seldom goes unmentioned in major international speeches. Taiwan is a core issue of China policy, and Wang\u2019s appearance at the leaders\u2019 meeting \u2014 instead of his boss, Chinese leader Xi Jinping \u2014 was a signal that the speech was not necessarily a significant one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe PRC government is the sole government representing all of China,\u201d Wang said, referring to China\u2019s formal name, the People\u2019s Republic of China. \u201cThe one-China principle has become a basic norm in international relations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added: \u201cAny move to obstruct China\u2019s reunification is bound to be crushed by the wheels of history.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
China exercises regular pressure worldwide on any entity \u2014 country, corporation, mapmaker \u2014 that even implies Taiwan might be a separate nation. At the Olympics, for example, Taiwan must compete as \u201cChinese Taipei.\u201d The mainland government\u2019s muscle has isolated the island\u2019s government, though a few U.N. members continue to have diplomatic relations with Taipei rather than Beijing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Saturday at the U.N. meeting, just a few speakers before Wang, the prime minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves,\u00a0spoke forcefully\u00a0about allowing Taiwan to raise its profile in international organizations, including the World Health Organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHow can we stand askance, in relative silence and contented inaction, in disregard of Taiwan\u2019s legitimate right to exist in accord with the wishes and will of the Taiwanese people?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wang\u2019s appearance\u00a0at the 2022 in-person edition of the U.N. General Assembly came after two years of remote,\u00a0pandemic-era speeches\u00a0by China\u2019s top leader. Xi did not attend this year\u2019s event, which Russian President Vladimir Putin also skipped. U.S. President Joe Biden\u00a0spoke\u00a0on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The United States and China have an uneasy diplomacy and are at odds over many core issues. They have sparred for decades over human rights, most recently the mistreatment of ethnic Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region of western China. Beijing views U.S. criticism as hypocritical and an act of interference in its\u00a0internal affairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is always reflected in remarks from China\u2019s leadership. Wang\u2019s speech used lightly coded phrases and references that critiqued Washington without coming out and saying so. For example, Wang said, \u201cWe stand firmly against attempts to politicize human rights,\u201d and \u201cWe must uphold equity and oppose bullying\u201d \u2014 both references to longtime irritations it has with U.S. policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While Taiwan and human rights perennially stand in the way of China-U.S. relations, Wang and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken did meet in person on the General Assembly\u2019s sidelines Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
U.S. officials said\u00a0Blinken ramped up the Biden administration\u2019s efforts to press China to end provocative actions against Taiwan. China\u2019s Foreign Ministry, in a\u00a0summary of the meeting, said Wang told his counterpart that \u201cthe current China-U.S. relations are facing grave impacts, and there are lessons that the U.S. side needs to learn from.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It said the two discussed \u201cthe U.S. side\u2019s recent erroneous acts on the Taiwan question.\u201d However, it also said: \u201cBoth sides believe that the meeting was candid, constructive and important, and agreed to maintain communication.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the takeover of China by Mao Zedong\u2019s Communist forces in 1949, Chiang Kai-shek\u2019s Nationalists decamped to Taiwan and kept their separate government going. It was recognized by the United States until 1979, when Washington established relations with Beijing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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