Ministry of External Affairs on Wednesday dismissed China's protest over the recent visit by a Taiwanese Parliamentary delegation to India, saying no political meanings should be attached into such trips. China had asked India to deal Rsprudently' with Taiwan-related matters and respect RsOne-China Policy' after a three-member women's parliamentary delegation from Taiwan visited India earlier this week.
"We understand that a group of Taiwanese academics and business persons, including a couple of legislators, is visiting India. Such informal groups have visited India in the past as well for business, religious and tourist purposes. I understand that they do so to China as well. There is nothing new or unusual about such visits and political meanings should not be read into them," MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup said in reaction to a statement from Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang.
Briefing the reporters in Beijing on Wednesday, Geng said, China has lodged representations with India over the Taiwan parliamentary delegation's visit to New Delhi. "We hope that India would understand and respect China's core concerns and stick to the 'One-China' principle and prudently deal with Taiwan-related issues and maintain sound and steady development of India-China relations," Geng said.
China which considers Taiwan as part of its mainland opposes any diplomatic relations as well as political contacts with Taipei by countries which have diplomatic relations with it. China has been objecting to such visits to India, maintaining that countries that have diplomatic relations with it should fulfil their commitment to the 'One China' policy.
Elaborating further on China's stand on Taiwanese Parliamentary delegation to India, Geng said: "Those who are visiting India are so-called legislators from Taiwan" and Beijing is opposed to any official contacts between Taiwan and other countries with whom China has diplomatic relations. The reason why China lodged the representation is because that we have been requiring countries that have diplomatic relations with China to fulfil their commitment to the 'One China' principle," he said.
"So by making our representation we are urging the Indian side to stick to the 'One China' principle and take concrete actions for steady development of China-India relations," he said. He also declined to answer a question about when the protest was lodged with India, saying that "not all the information about diplomatic activities are open to the public".
Taiwan currently has Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre located in New Delhi. India's office in Taiwan is called India-Taipei Association.
Meanwhile, state-run Global Times said in its Op-Ed that "by challenging China over the Taiwan question, India is playing with fire," and "New Delhi will suffer losses if it plays Taiwan card."
"At a time when new US President Donald Trump has put the brakes on challenging China over the Taiwan question, agreeing to change course and respecting the "one China" policy, India stands out as a provocateur. High-level visits between India and Taiwan are not very frequent, so why did India invite the Taiwan delegation to visit at this timeIJ" the article in the paper said.