BEIJING: China on Friday sanctioned the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and other US and Asian-based organisations in retaliation to the US House Speaker meeting Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen, a day after President Xi Jinping said it is “wishful” thinking to expect Beijing to compromise on its stand on the self-ruled island.
Tsai’s meeting with Speaker McCarthy — the third most senior official in the US — on Thursday took place against the backdrop of repeated warnings from Beijing to Washington that the meeting should not happen.
China views any official exchanges between foreign governments and Taiwan as an infringement on Beijing’s claims of sovereignty over the island.
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, was the site where Tsai met McCarthy and a bipartisan group of Congressional leaders. It was the second high-profile meeting between an American official and Taiwan’s President.
China also sanctioned the Hudson Institute, which hosted an event and presented Tsai with its global leadership award on March 30.
The sanctioned groups included Asia-based groups The Prospect Foundation and the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats for their involvement in promoting Taiwan’s independence.
“The Taiwan issue is the core of China’s core interests. The Chinese government and Chinese people will never agree to anyone making a fuss about the one-China issue,” Xi told European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during a meeting in Beijing on Thursday.
It was his first comment after the US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy met Tsai in Simi Valley, California, which Beijing sharply criticised.
“Anyone who expects China to compromise on the Taiwan question could only be wishful thinking and self-defeating,” Xi was quoted as saying by the state-run Xinhua news agency.