China: Taiwan claims over Fiji fight 'nonsense'

China branded allegations by Taiwan over a violent altercation in Fiji "sheer nonsense" on Tuesday, after a fight broke out between Chinese diplomats and Taiwan government employees at a recent Taiwan National Day reception.

Taiwan is "just acting as the guilty party blaming the innocent. It is sheer nonsense," said Zhao Lijian, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, at a regular press briefing in Beijing.

China also criticised Australia for joining a multinational naval exercise in the Pacific and India for starting trade talks with Taiwan.

Both China and Taiwan confirmed the Oct. 8 incident in Fiji but each disputed the other's claim of what precipitated the fight, which resulted in one Taiwanese staffer being sent to a hospital with a head injury. One of the Chinese diplomats also was injured.

When asked about Australia's return to the Malabar Exercise, a joint naval simulation with India, Japan and the United States, the spokesperson said that  "China always believes that state-to-state military cooperation should be conducive to regional peace and stability."

Australia stopped attending the exercise in 2007.

The spokesperson also criticized India's announcement that it would start trade negotiations with Taiwan.

"China firmly opposes countries having diplomatic ties with China conducting any forms of formal exchanges or signing official agreements with Taiwan," Zhao said.

The spokesperson welcomed the lift a temporary ban on the Chinese social media app TikTok by Pakistan Monday. About 10 days earlier, the video-sharing platform was blocked by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, saying it took the step after receiving complaints of "immoral and indecent" content on TikTok.

"The Chinese government always maintains that Chinese companies operating overseas should strictly abide by local laws and regulations and fully respect local customs and religious beliefs," said Zhao.