The US health minister is about to visit Taiwan, China reacts harshly

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said that the visit of US Secretary Azar to Taiwan would endanger the "peace and stability" of the region.

On August 5, Reuters reported, US Secretary of Health and Human Services, Alex Azar will have a visit to Taiwan in the next few days. The visit marks the highest-ranking US official in four decades to visit Taiwan, a territory that China considers part of the territory, which can be annexed by force if necessary. So the visit could provoke an angry response from Beijing.

The US Department of Health calls this a "historic" visit. Accompanying Minister Azar during this visit are Mitchell Wolfe - senior staff of the US Department of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and some other members of the government.

Regarding developments, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said the visit of US Secretary Azar to Taiwan would endanger the "peace and stability" of the region.

"China firmly opposes official exchanges between the US and Taiwan. We urge the United States to abide by the 'One China' principle, stop all communication and not send any false signals to Taiwan."

Foreign Ministry spokesman of China said in a press conference in Beijing today.

A spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs also warned the United States to stop causing serious harm to the Sino-US relationship as well as peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. At the same time, he affirmed that Taiwan is the most important and sensitive issue in Beijing and Washington relations.

It is known that this expected visit of the US Secretary takes place in the context that the relationship between the US and China is considered to be at its worst level since the two countries established diplomatic relations four decades ago due to irregularities on a series of issues from trade campaign, COVID-19 campaign, human rights to Taiwan.

In particular, during the visit, Mr. Azar is expected to have a meeting with the head of Taiwan, Ms. Thai Anh Van.

Mr. Azar emphasized:

"Taiwan has become a model of transparency and cooperation on global health issues throughout COVID-19 and long before that".