On Tuesday, a day after Taiwan’s new president was sworn in, China’s Foreign Ministry announced sanctions against former Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.).
The former U.S. lawmaker was barred from entering China after he resigned early from Congress last month, further narrowing the Republican Party’s slim House majority, the ministry said, Reuters reported.
China’s Foreign Ministry said Gallagher had “interfered in China’s internal affairs” without giving details, and as a result China has frozen his domestic assets and banned local organizations and individuals from collaborating with him. He is reported to have said that.
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin also criticized U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s congratulations to Taiwan’s new president Lai Ching-de at a press conference in Beijing on Tuesday.
“This is a serious violation of the United States’ political commitment to maintain only cultural, commercial, and other informal ties with the Taiwanese region,” Wang said, according to the newspaper. bloomberg.
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Gallagher led a US Congressional delegation to Taiwan in February and met with then-President Tsai Ing-wen and her successor, Lai Ching-ming.
According to the select committee, Gallagher told Tsai that the trip was for Democrats and Republicans to show “our bipartisan support for this partnership,” adding, “He is a great leader here in Taiwan. He expressed his gratitude for not only his accomplishments, but also for his outstanding achievements as a truly outstanding leader.” He is the leader of the free world. ”
“Freedom is under attack from authoritarian aggression, and we need to be more vigilant than ever if we want to pass on this gift of freedom to the next generation,” he said at the time. he said.
Just a few days ago, Mr. Gallagher officially joined the Hudson Institute, an American conservative think tank in Washington, D.C., as a distinguished fellow. At Monday’s inaugural event, Gallagher, a former chairman of the Chinese Communist Party’s House Select Committee, spoke about how China is facilitating the fentanyl trade in the United States and “strengthening deterrence in the Indo-Pacific region,” the newspaper reported. “We emphasized the need to do so.” Institute.
In his inaugural address on Monday, Lai said he wanted peace with China and called for an end to military threats and threats against the autonomous island, which China claims as its own territory.
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After taking the oath of office, Lai said, “I hope that China will face the reality of (Taiwan’s) existence, respect the choices of the Taiwanese people, and in good faith choose dialogue rather than confrontation.”
Mr. Lai pledged not to “give in or provoke” the Chinese government and said he would pursue peace in relations with China. But he stressed that the island’s democracy is determined to defend itself “in the face of numerous threats and infiltration attempts from China,” according to the Associated Press.
China’s office in charge of Taiwan affairs criticized Lai’s inaugural speech, saying it promoted the “fallacy of separatism” and encouraged conflict and dependence on foreign powers seeking independence.
“We will never condone or condone any form of ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist activity,” said Chen Binhua, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, stating that opponents “are in line with the historical trend of the final reunification of the motherland.” You can’t stop it,” he added.
China’s Commerce Ministry also announced sanctions on Monday against Boeing and two other defense companies for arms sales to Taiwan.
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Lai, 64, succeeds Tsai, who for eight years led Taiwan’s economic and social development despite the COVID-19 pandemic and a growing military threat from China, which views the island as a renegade province and has increasingly threatened to annex it by force if necessary.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.