China slams US, Aus & Japan's statement on Taiwan; suggests to not take sides 'blindly'

China has reacted strongly to the recent joint statement released by the United States, Japan and Australia over the ongoing actions of Beijing against US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's Taiwan visit and advised the countries to refrain from backing Taipei "without any adequate reasons". Earlier, in a joint statement, the foreign ministers of the three countries urged Beijing to "immediately cease military exercises around Taiwan". Expressing grave concern about the recent developments, the FMs underscored that Chinese "provocative" actions could affect international peace and stability.

Reacting sharply to the joint statement, the Chinese embassy in Australia released a counter-statement on Saturday where it condemned Canberra's concerns regarding Beijing's military drills and said it was absolutely unacceptable to finger-point China's "legitimate interests" and added the actions were meant to "safeguard Beijing's sovereignty" and territorial integrity. "Instead of expressing sympathy and support to the victim, the Australian side has condemned the victim along with the perpetrators. This is completely putting the cart before the horse and reversing the right from the wrong," according to the statement. 

China calls US 'the biggest troublemaker' to the regional stability

The Chinese embassy went on to accuse the Biden administration of inciting political provocations in the region and dubbed Washington the "biggest troublemaker" to regional stability. "The incidents prove that the US is the biggest saboteur and destabilizer of peace in the Taiwan Strait and the biggest troublemaker to regional stability. It is the US that should be condemned. China is the victim of political provocation from the US," said the embassy. China also took a dig at Japan's statement and accused Tokyo of having a long history of colonisation and invasion of Taiwan. According to the Chinese statement, Japan is the only country that launched a military attack on Australia, in which nearly 50,000 Australian soldiers and civilians were killed. Also, it accused Japanese of wounding and capturing of a large number of Australian soldiers who were later "brutally abused and massacred by the Japanese army".

Uproar behind Pelosi's Taiwan visit

It is crucial to note here that the Chinese government had warned Taiwan of a dramatic situation for allowing US Speaker Nancy Pelosi to visit Taipei. It sent 27 aircraft to Taiwan's air defence identification zone (ADIZ) hours after Pelosi's plane left Taipei. Also, it fired “precision missiles” in waters off Taiwan’s coasts as part of military exercises. Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying dubbed Pelosi's visit "unhealthy" for "democracy" and added her visit only provoked and violated China's sovereignty and territorial integrity. However, Pelosi issued a statement describing her tour as a "strong statement that America stands with Taiwan." She said that her visit is part of broader travels in the Indo-Pacific, focused on security, prosperity and governance - on which Taiwan is a global leader.   

Image: AP