The Taipei 101 skyscraper commands the urban landscape in Taipei, Taiwan. [Photo/Xinhua]

　　Experts say that the Taiwan question brooks no interference by foreign forces

　　It's natural for China to feel angry and oppose the recent visit to

　　Taiwan by United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, because the trip

　　openly violates the one-China principle and challenges China's

　　territorial integrity and sovereignty, experts said while explaining

　　China's reaction and the severe countermeasures it has taken.

　　It's clear that the two sides of the Taiwan Straits are the same

　　country, and the Taiwan question, which is purely China's internal

　　affair, brooks no interference by foreign forces, they said.

　　Traveling in a military aircraft, Pelosi－second in the line of

　　succession to the US president－last week paid a high-profile "official

　　visit to Taiwan", as her office described it in her arrival statement,

　　and was given full protocol treatment by Taiwan's Democratic Progressive

　　Party authorities, which make no secret of pursuing "independence" in

　　their party platform.

　　Pelosi's two-day trip included meeting with the island's leader Tsai

　　Ing-wen and some "human rights" advocates, as well as visiting the

　　island's "legislative "authority.

　　Hundreds of millions of Chinese watched, discussed and were outraged

　　by the provocative trip that was also followed by unprecedented

　　countermeasures by the Chinese government, including canceling three

　　cooperative dialogues or meetings with the defense authorities of the

　　US, suspending climate talks, and conducting live-fire drills

　　surrounding the Taiwan island.

　　Bao Chengke, assistant director at the Institute for East Asian

　　Studies in Shanghai, said that the visit has trampled on the one-China

　　principle and China's national sovereignty, and was a move that in

　　nature promoted the concept of "one China, one Taiwan".

　　To the Chinese side, the one-China principle is a bottom line that

　　cannot be crossed. It has been reiterated numerous times by the Chinese

　　government, and is firmly believed by the Chinese people, that the

　　island of Taiwan has been an inseparable part of China's territory for

　　1,800 years and it's crystal clear that the two sides of the Straits

　　belong to one China.

　　It was even worse that Pelosi turned a deaf ear to repeated warnings

　　from the Chinese government and still made the trip, Bao said, adding

　　that when something like this happens, it's reasonable for any country

　　to feel angry and take severe countermeasures.

　　Lin Kuan-ting, a young man from Taiwan who is studying on the

　　mainland, said he opposes the visit and the US should not interfere in

　　the Taiwan question as the island has always been a part of China.

　　Another Taiwan student on main-land, Lin Pei-ying, said the visit

　　seriously hurt the feelings of compatriots on both sides of the Straits,

　　and the contradictions between the two sides are purely our family

　　matters.

　　Root of the Taiwan question

　　As Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China

　　Central Committee, has said, the Taiwan question arose out of the

　　weakness and chaos of the nation and will be resolved as national

　　rejuvenation becomes a reality.

　　In 1894, Japan launched the First Sino-Japanese War to invade China.

　　In the following year, the government of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)

　　was forced to cede Taiwan to Japan under the unequal Treaty of

　　Shimonoseki.

　　In 1945, the Chinese people won the War of Resistance Against

　　Japanese Aggression (1931-1945). Taiwan was thus recovered and returned

　　to the motherland.

　　In 1943, the leaders of China, the US and Britain issued the Cairo

　　Declaration, which clearly states that all territories Japan stole from

　　the Chinese, including Taiwan, shall be restored to China. The Potsdam

　　Declaration of 1945 affirmed that the terms of the Cairo Declaration

　　would be carried out. Thus, Taiwan's legal status as a part of China was

　　irrefutably confirmed.

　　It was not long, however, before the two sides of the Straits fell

　　into a special state of protracted political confrontation due to civil

　　war in China and the interference of foreign forces.

　　In 1949, the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of

　　China was established, replacing the Republic of China government as the

　　sole legal government representing the whole of China. It is logical

　　for the government of the People's Republic of China to exercise

　　sovereignty over China, which includes Taiwan.

　　In 1971, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 2758

　　with an overwhelming majority vote, restoring all rights of the PRC and

　　recognizing the government of the PRC as the sole legitimate

　　representative of China to the United Nations.

　　The one-China principle is a widely recognized basic norm of

　　international relations. More than 180 countries have to date

　　established diplomatic relations with China on the basis of their

　　recognition of the one-China principle, according to official records.

　　When China and the US established diplomatic relations in 1979, the

　　US recognized in the joint communique with China that the government of

　　the PRC is the sole legal government of China. Since then, the US has

　　long been committed to not developing official relations with Taiwan.

　　"The one-China principle is part of the postwar international order

　　and has become a general international consensus. As a country that

　　thinks of itself as a champion of the 'rules-based international order',

　　the United States should naturally abide by the one-China principle,"

　　Chinese Ambassador to the US Qin Gang wrote in an article in The

　　Washington Post on Thursday.

　　"President Biden has said many times that the United States will not

　　change its one-China policy and does not support 'Taiwan independence'.

　　But for the 'Taiwan independence' forces, Pelosi's visit represents an

　　exceptionally strong signal that 'the US is on Taiwan's side'. This goes

　　against the one-China principle, the three Sino-US joint communiques

　　and America's own commitments," the article said.

　　Wu Yongping, director of the Institute of Taiwan Studies at Tsinghua

　　University, said that US support for "Taiwan independence "separatists

　　is a fundamental reason why the Taiwan question is so difficult to

　　resolve.

　　The US has tried to obscure and hollow out the one-China principle,

　　Wu said, adding that it has colluded with "Taiwan independence" forces

　　on the island and elevated relations with the island in various ways,

　　including arms sales.

　　After the DPP came to power in Taiwan, it refused to recognize the

　　1992 Consensus which embodies the one-China principle, creating an

　　increasingly tense and confrontational atmosphere across the Straits,

　　according to Bao from the Institute for East Asian Studies.

　　Common will

　　Despite the complex situation, experts believe that the two sides of

　　the Straits must be reunified in the future, which is also the will of

　　the entire Chinese nation.

　　The mainland has great patience in dealing with the Taiwan question,

　　and it has been working to promote integrated development and

　　cooperation between people across the Straits in order to gradually

　　overcome the resentment and differences and find the path of future

　　reunification, Bao said.

　　Wu said the mainland's ability to resolve the Taiwan question has

　　been increasing as well, which could been seen in the recent

　　countermeasures, and no other forces should underestimate such ability

　　and China's determination to safeguard its sovereignty and unity.

　　Xinhua contributed to this story.