Updated February 4th, 2021 at 18:35 IST

Beijing official on Taiwan, Myanmar and Xinjiang

China's Foreign Ministry warned Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) that no "secessionist activities" will succeed after the island established a trade office in the South American country of Guyana.

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China's Foreign Ministry warned Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) that no "secessionist activities" will succeed after the island established a trade office in the South American country of Guyana.The DPP's latest move is considered a diplomatic win for the island that has continued to lose allies in an aggressive poaching campaign from China in recent years.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin responded to the move on Thursday, demanding that those concerned "avoid setting up any official institutions with each other, and take practical measures to correct mistakes."The Guyana facility will focus on cooperation in areas like agriculture, education and trade, Taiwan's Foreign ministry said in an announcement on Thursday.It does not represent the establishment of formal diplomatic ties.

Speaking to a daily briefing, Wang also commented on the transit of a U.S. warship through the Taiwan Strait on Thursday, saying China "closely monitored" the ship.Wang said that the country will remain on "high alert at all times" and stand ready to "respond to all threats and provocations."

China always fiercely opposes any signal of U.S. military support for Taiwan, that relies on Washington for defensive weapons and political backing in the face of Chinese threats to annex the island by force.Asked about the U.S. State Department's response to the BBC's Wednesday report on the systematic sexual abuse in Xinjiang's internment camps, Wang called on the U.S. to avoid being "misled by the fake news."

Since 2016, China has swept a million or more Uighurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities into prisons and indoctrination camps that the state calls training centres.Finally, Wang commented on the U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres's call on international community to make sure Myanmar's military coup fails.

Wang said all of the U.N. Security Council's actions should be conducive to Myanmar's "stability and peaceful reconciliation" and should avoid "complicating the situation."

The coup deposed national leader Aung San Suu Kyi a little over a year after Chinese President Xi Jinping made a show of support to her with the first visit by a head of state from Beijing to Myanmar since 2001.

Before Monday's coup, the country's relations with China already were complicated by Chinese investments in its infrastructure and the Myanmar military's campaigns along their shared border.

 

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Published February 4th, 2021 at 18:35 IST