China warns US against creating 'bigger crisis' over Taiwan

'We must solemnly warn US not to act rashly,' says Chinese foreign minister

ISTANBUL:

China warned the US on Saturday against rash action or behavior that would create "a bigger crisis" over Taiwan, local media reported.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi once again blamed Washington for the current tensions, which were fueled by a visit to the self-ruled island by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi earlier this week and escalated when Beijing responded with a series of military exercises around the island.

"The usual tactic of the US is that they first create the problems, and then use them to achieve their goal. But this approach will not work on China," Wang stressed, according to a report by South China Morning Post.

"We must solemnly warn the US not to act rashly or create a bigger crisis," the minister said in Cambodia on the sidelines of a foreign ministers' meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Beijing launched massive military exercises surrounding Taiwan earlier this week after Pelosi visited the self-ruled island, bucking Chinese warnings.

China views Taiwan as its "breakaway province" despite Taipei having governed itself since 1949. It has vowed to reunify the island, including by force if necessary.

As part of its major military exercises near Taiwan and eight countermeasures to respond to the situation, China on Friday dispatched the largest number of military aircraft across the Taiwan Strait this year, according to Taiwan's Defense Ministry.