Earlier, in a strongly worded protest, the Chinese Foreign Ministry asked India to understand and respect China's core concerns and stick to the 'One-China' principle.
India has dismissed Chinese protest for hosting a Taiwanese parliamentary delegation, saying there is nothing new or unusual about the visit of such a delegation to India. "We understand that a group of Taiwanese academics and business persons, including a couple of legislators, is visiting India. Such informal groups have visited India in the past as well for business, religious and tourist purposes. I understand that they do so to China as well. There is nothing new or unusual about such visits and political meanings should not be read into them," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) official spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.
Earlier, in a strongly worded protest, the Chinese Foreign Ministry asked India to understand and respect China's core concerns and stick to the 'One-China' principle. It also asked New Delhi to prudently deal with Taiwan-related issues and maintain sound and steady development of India-China relations. But the MEA here insisted that no "political meanings" should be read into such trips. China sees Taiwan as a breakaway province that will eventually be part of the country again. Briefing the reporters in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said, "China lodged representations with India" over the Taiwan parliamentary delegation's visit to New Delhi.
A three-member women's parliamentary delegation from Taiwan visited India earlier this week amidst signals of increasing engagement between the two sides. Taiwan currently has Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre located in New Delhi. India's office in Taiwan is called India-Taipei Association.
Elaborating further on China's stand on Taiwanese Parliamentary delegation to India, Geng said, "those who are visiting India are so-called legislators from Taiwan" and Beijing is opposed to any official contacts between Taiwan and other countries with whom China has diplomatic relations. "The reason why China lodged the representation is because that we have been requiring countries that have diplomatic relations with China to fulfil their commitment to the 'One China' principle," he said.
The state-run Beijing daily Global Times in an op-ed article on Wednesday also said India was playing with fire by using Taiwan to taunt Beijing. The paper suggested that India is getting back at China for its construction of a $46 billion economic corridor in Pakistan. The rail and road network links China's land-locked north-west with the deep-water port of Gwadar in the Arabian Sea. "As the corridor passes through the disputed Kashmir, some Indian strategists have advised the Modi government to play the Taiwan card," the paper claimed.
After the Communist army under Mao Zedong took over China, the ruler Chiang Kai-shek' and the remnants of his Kuomintang (KMT) government fled to Taiwan in 1949 and declared it a Republic of China (ROC) government, claiming to represent the whole of China. It held China's seat on the United Nations Security Council and was recognised by many Western nations as the only Chinese government. But in 1971, the UN switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing and the ROC government was forced out.
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