US sending UN envoy to Taiwan, sparking warning from China
Jan. 7, 2021
By EDITH M. LEDERER
The Associated Press
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday he is sending U.N. Ambassador Kelly Craft to Taiwan next week to show “what a free China could achieve,” an announcement that sparked sharp criticism from Beijing and a warning that “the United States will pay a heavy price for its wrong action.”
Pompeo called Taiwan “a reliable partner and vibrant democracy that has flourished despite CCP (Chinese Communist Party) efforts to undermine its great success.”
China’s U.N. Mission said in a statement from its spokesperson that Beijing “firmly opposes” Craft’s visit. It said that “there is only one China in the world and the Taiwan region is an inalienable part of China’s territory.”
“The United States will not succeed in its attempt to harm China’s core interests through political manipulation on the Taiwan question,” the unidentified spokesperson said. “We wish to remind the United States that whoever plays with fire will burn himself.”
