By Ibrahim Joenal Sesay
FREETOWN: Aug 8 (232news.com) – We, Sierra Leone China Friendship Association (SiLCHA), Sierra Leone China Foundation and Sino-Sierra Leone Alumni Association (SISLAA), are shocked by and strongly condemn the visit by Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi to China’s Taiwan region on the 2nd and 3rd August and hereby make the following statement.
There is but one China in the world, Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory, and the Government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China. This has been clearly recognized by United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 of 1971. The one-China principle is a universal consensus of the international community and a basic norm in international relations.
In 1979, the United States made a clear commitment in the China-U.S. Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations. Congress, as a part of the U.S. Government, is inherently obliged to strictly observe the one-China policy of the U.S. Government and refrain from having any official exchanges with China’s Taiwan region. Since Speaker Pelosi is the incumbent leader of the U.S. Congress, her visit to and activities in Taiwan, in whatever form and for whatever reason, is a major political provocation to upgrade U.S. official exchanges with Taiwan and is seriously undermining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
The Taiwan question is purely China’s internal affair. No other country, including the US, has the right to act as a judge on the Taiwan question. There is no doubt that the US side is using Pelosi’s visit to meddle in China’s internal affairs and connive “Taiwan independence” separatist forces. And it is also distorting, obscuring and hollowing out the one-China principle.
As Sierra Leone-China friendship organizations, we hereby reaffirm our strong support to the one-China principle and to the legitimate and necessary responses of China regarding this visit. We also urge the US and other forces to stop playing the Taiwan card and not go further down the wrong and dangerous path.
Sierra Leone China Friendship Association (SiLCHA), Sierra Leone China Foundation and Sino-Sierra Leone Alumni Association (SISLAA).
