China calls on the US to stop sending wrong signals to Taipei’s separatist forces

China has urged the United States to stop interfering in the affairs of Chinese Taipei and sending wrong signals to separatist forces in the self-governed Chinese island.

Ma Xiaoguang, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of China’s State Council, made the remarks at a regular news conference in Beijing on Wednesday, Xinhua news agency reported.

“We deplore the US playing the ‘Taiwan card,'” Ma said, adding that Beijing urged Washington to abide by the “one China” principle and relevant stipulations of the three China-US joint communiques, properly handle Taipei-related issues, and stop sending wrong signals to “Taiwan independence” forces.

Ma said the separatist forces in Chinese Taipei were colluding with foreign forces in pursuit of the island’s “independence” and warned that if the separatist forces dared to provoke, “we have the right to take all necessary measures to stop them.”

He made the comments in response to a query about a recent claim by the United States that the country needed to strengthen regional deterrence in the Taiwan Strait. He said the US attempts to maintain so-called “deterrence in the Taiwan Strait” would only further threaten the peace and stability across the sensitive waterway.

Chinese Taipei falls under China’s sovereignty, and under the “one China” policy, almost all world countries — the US included — recognize that sovereignty. But, in violation of its own stated policy and in an attempt to irritate Beijing, Washington has maintained and recently ramped up diplomatic contact with the self-proclaimed government in Chinese Taipei. Washington is also the island’s largest weapon supplier.

US warships also periodically sail in the Taiwan Strait, often triggering angry responses from Beijing.