China responds to US Ambo's planned trip to Taiwan

China on Wednesday urged the United States to abide by its "One China" policy and stop official exchanges with Taiwan, after a planned visit by a U.S. envoy to the island was abruptly cancelled.

The announcement of the visit had infuriated Beijing, which regards Taiwan as part of China.

U.S. Ambassador to U.N. Kelly Craft had been set to visit Taiwan for three days, in a schedule that would have included meetings with Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen and Foreign Minister Joseph Wu.

Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson of China's Taiwan Affairs Office, responded to the cancellation of the trip by calling on Washington to stop "making mistakes" over its policy towards the island.

Craft's trip was one of two moves in the twilight days of the Trump Administration that increases official exchanges with Taiwan while also provoking China.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last week said the department would lift restrictions on how U.S. diplomats and others have contact with their Taiwanese counterparts.

At the briefing, Zhu also criticized Taiwan's latest unveiling of a newly-designed passport cover that prominently enlarged the Chinese characters of "Taiwan" and shrank the font size of "Republic of China."

Zhu called it "little tricks" by Taiwan's ruling party and said it "will not change the fact the Taiwan is part of China."

(Image credit: AP)