US diplomats' meetings with Taiwan officials denounced

A mainland spokeswoman denounced meetings two United States diplomats had with two Taiwan officials on Monday after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced he was lifting restrictions governing US official contacts with the island.

Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs Clarke Cooper met with "Taiwan's representative to the US" Hsiao Bi-khim on Monday in the United States. The US ambassador to the Netherlands Pete Hoekstra also met with Chen Hsing-hsing, the island's "representative" to the country on Monday in the Netherlands.

Two days earlier, Pompeo announced he was lifting what he called "self-imposed" restrictions on contacts between US officials and those on Taiwan, which comes less than two weeks before President-elect Joe Biden is set to take office.

A planned visit to Taiwan by US Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft scheduled from Wednesday to Friday was canceled by the US State Department on Tuesday.

Zhu Fenglian, a spokeswoman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, urged the US to immediately stop its wrong practices, saying the mainland firmly opposed any official exchanges between the US and the Taiwan region of China.

The US government should abide by the one-China principle and the provisions of the three China-US joint communiques, which is a commitment made by the US, she said.

"The island's Democratic Progressive Party administration, which relies on the US to seek independence and goes further down the wrong path, will be severely punished," Zhu said.

The mainland will take resolute and forceful measures to counter any collusion between the US and the island, she added.