Taiwan the biggest US-China flashpoint, Chinese envoy Xie Feng says

Taiwan is the “biggest flashpoint” between China and the US, and any attempt to use the island as leverage with Beijing will only backfire, China’s ambassador to Washington told a forum in Hong Kong on Friday in the first comments by a senior Chinese envoy since the US presidential election.

Speaking via video link to the US-China Hong Kong Forum, Xie Feng said the Taiwan question was the biggest potential source of conflict.

“Any forces trying to play Taiwan as a card would be playing with fire. To truly uphold peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, one should commit to the one-China principle and the Three Sino-US Joint Communiqués in both word and deed, and unequivocally oppose Taiwan independence.”

The comments come more than a week after former president Donald Trump’s emphatic victory in the US elections. Trump, who is known for his transactional view on Taiwan, has picked many China hawks for his cabinet, including Beijing critic Marco Rubio as the next secretary of state.

One of Xie’s predecessors, Cui Tiankai, echoed the ambassador’s comments, saying Beijing and Washington could manage risks with engagement, but Taiwan was a non-negotiable issue for China.