China calls on Biden to reverse Trump’s ‘dangerous practice’ on Taiwan

China’s foreign minister is calling on President Biden to reverse the policies of former President Trump and distance the U.S. from Taiwan.

The Associated Press reports that foreign minister Wang Yi made the comments at a press conference on Sunday in which he warned that the Trump administration’s policies showing support for Taiwan’s independent government amounted to “playing with fire,” and urged Biden to reverse them.

“The Chinese government has no room for compromise,” he said.

“We urge the new U.S. administration to fully understand the high sensitivity of the Taiwan issue” and “completely change the previous administration’s dangerous practices of ‘crossing the line’ and ‘playing with fire,’” Wang continued, according to the AP.

A State Department official told The Hill in response to Wang’s comments that Beijing should “cease its military, diplomatic, and economic pressure against Taiwan” and engage meaningfully with Taiwan’s government.

“The United States continues to express our strong concerns to Beijing regarding the troubling pattern of ongoing PRC attempts to intimidate its neighbors in the region, including Taiwan,” the agency spokesperson said. “Our support for Taiwan is rock-solid. We will stand with friends and allies to advance our shared prosperity, security, and values and a free and open Indo-Pacific region — and that includes deepening our unofficial ties with democratic Taiwan.”

A number of U.S. officials joined a delegation headed by former Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar to Taiwan last August, a move that at the time infuriated Beijing, which considers Taiwan to be part of China.

During the trip, Azar delivered a statement that argued democracies such as the U.S. and Taiwan were better equipped to handle global health crises like COVID-19, a clear shot aimed at China’s own handling of the pandemic. The U.S. has since seen more COVID-19 cases than any country.

“I look forward to conveying President Trump’s support for Taiwan’s global health leadership and underscoring our shared belief that free and democratic societies are the best model for protecting and promoting health,” Azar said last year.

At the time, China’s government said that it was “firmly opposed to official interactions between the U.S. and Taiwan.”

Most countries, including the U.S., do not have formal relations with Taiwan, which officially calls itself the “Republic of China.” 

—Updated at 9:40 p.m.