Two Chinas? U.S. Ambassador Visits Taiwan, Calls It a Country Amid Escalating Sino-US Tensions

UPI: U.S. ambassador's visit to Taiwan stirs tough response from China

China warned the United States and Taiwan against cultivating too-close ties after the U.S. Ambassador to Palau John Hennessey-Niland began an official visit to the island nation on Sunday.

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Tuesday at a regular press briefing that Beijing opposes any form of government exchange between the United States and "China's Taiwan region."

ZH: China Furious As 1st US Ambassador To Visit Taiwan Since 1979 Calls It A "Country"

"I know that here in Taiwan people describe the relationship between the United States and Taiwan as real friends, real progress and I believe that description applies to the three countries — the United States, Taiwan and Palau," he was cited in Reuters and AFP as saying.

China is extremly hypersensitive about calling Taiwain a country. Even ordinary Chinese citizens are on guard for this and will immediaterly correct you if you reference Taiwan as anything other than a province of China. I was once "corrected" in a totally non-political discussion about how products are labeled by country of origin. I listed off "Made In" countries like Malysia, Mexico, Germany and included Taiwan in the list. This is a huge, huge deal to China. And it will be a huge signal that the Biden admin wants to wreck the U.S.-China relationship if it doesn't quickly say this was a slip of the tongue.

Meanwhile, now even 60 Minutes is spreading the Wuhan-lab origin thesis for coronavirus. I don't trust 60 Minutes as a source. Along with the news aboe, I take this as a signal that the U.S. ruling class might be readying for ultra-escalation with China.

Related. Global Times: Diplomat’s tweet reflects intensifying China-US friction

Third, the China-US and China-West conflicts have intensified. Sentiments on both sides have seen vehemence with rhetoric escalating. The words used by the US and Western politicians are constantly breaking boundaries. For instance, former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo and others repeatedly resorted to extreme words such as "evil" to describe CPC and China. The US government has viciously attacked Xinjiang with the label of "genocide." Some US lawmakers have gone even further to target specific Chinese individuals. These are all serious breaches of normal diplomatic etiquette. In general, the language the Chinese side uses is more restrained than their US and Western counterparts.