Japan, Philippines warned against their illegal acts regarding waters east of Taiwan

Chinese Ministry of National Defense on Tuesday warned Japan and the Philippines against their illegal acts concerning waters east of Taiwan of China.

"With regard to Japan and the Philippines' unilateral announcement of launching maritime delimitation talks regarding waters east of China's Taiwan island, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has on multiple occasions made clear its stern and unequivocal position of firm opposition. We urge Japan and the Philippines to immediately cease all illegal, infringing and provocative acts. Persisting in going down this path will only backfire. China will take resolute and forceful actions to safeguard its territorial sovereignty, maritime rights and interests," Zhang Xiaogang, a spokesman for the ministry, said at a press conference in Beijing.

China urges the Republic of Korea (ROK) to earnestly abide by the one-China principle and not engage in any form of official exchanges with China's Taiwan region, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said on Tuesday.

Lin made the remarks in response to a query about the recent visit to Taiwan by a delegation of cross-party ROK parliamentarians. China has always firmly opposed any form of official exchanges between countries that have diplomatic ties with China and China's Taiwan region, he stressed.

"In 1992, when China and the ROK established diplomatic relations, the joint communique issued by the two sides clearly stipulated that the ROK recognizes the People's Republic of China as the sole legitimate government representing China. The ROK respects China's position that there is only one China and that Taiwan is a part of China. Since the beginning of this year, the ROK has publicly reiterated on several occasions that its stance of respecting the one-China principle remains unchanged. The Chinese side has made solemn representations to the ROK side over this," said Lin . "We urge the ROK to act from the perspective of the overall situation of China-ROK ties, keep its commitments, earnestly abide by the one-China principle, not engage in any form of official exchanges with China's Taiwan region, avoid being exploited by 'Taiwan independence' separatists or send wrong signals to them, and take concrete actions to safeguard the healthy and stable development of China-ROK ties," Lin said.