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Ministry warns Washington against sending wrong signals to secessionists
The United States has been escalating its move to play the Taiwan card and making the Taiwan question a hot spot as U.S. President Joe Biden s first delegation of former U.S. senior officials arrived in Taiwan on Wednesday, an expert said.
The three-day visit is the latest diplomatic outreach made by the U.S. after Washington issued a new guideline on Friday, enabling U.S. officials to meet more freely with officials from Taiwan. China responded by warning the U.S. not to play with fire .
Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Wednesday that China has lodged stern representations over the visit, urging Washington to stop sending any wrong signals to Taiwan independence forces.
China announced the six-day military drills will begin on Thursday in waters off Taiwan s south-west coast.
A no-entry zone for shipping has been announced by Chinese maritime safety officials while the live-fire drills are underway until Tuesday, reports The South China Morning Post.
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Chinese naval vessels will start new military exercises off Taiwan just hours after an unofficial US delegation arrived on the island.(AP)
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen was scheduled to meet a visiting US delegation on Thursday, comprised of a former US senator and two ex-State Department officials who arrived in Taiwan on Wednesday.
Chris Dodd, a Democratic senator from Connecticut from 1981 to 2011, travelled to the island with two former deputy secretaries of state, James Steinberg from the Democratic Obama administration and Richard Armitage, who served under Republican President George W. Bush.
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