Beijing slams vote to lift some Taiwan restrictions
(AP)
Updated: 2006-06-29 22:51 The Chinese mainland on Thursday protested a
proposal by U.S. lawmakers to lift some restrictions on exchanges between
American and Taiwan officials, saying it was a "serious violation" that would
hurt bilateral relations.
The move "runs contrary to the reaffirmed commitment by the U.S. government
to the 'one-China' policy," said Jiang Yu, a Chinese Foreign Ministry
spokeswoman. "Approving this draft bill is a serious violation of the
fundamental principles of bilateral relations."
Taiwan's Central News Agency reported from Washington that the U.S. House of
Representatives voted to lift official restrictions to allow exchange of visits
by high-level Taiwan and American officials.
The amendment passed by the House also proposes to refer to Taiwan as a
nation in official documents and allow Taiwanese officials to visit the White
House. The bill has yet to be passed by the U.S. Senate.
Beijing protests against foreign trips by Taiwanese leaders and the island's
military, saying sovereign nations are allowed formal diplomatic ties.
The United States has no official ties with Taiwan but is the island's main
arms supplier.
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