US, Lithuania warned about Taiwan moves

Any action to counter the general trend of China's reunification is doomed to fail, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Friday, after United States lawmakers paid a second visit to Taiwan within a month.

Five members of the US House of Representatives arrived in Taiwan on Thursday night for a two-day trip, Reuters reported.

The visit has gravely violated the one-China principle and the three joint communiques between China and the US, and sent a severely erroneous signal of supporting "Taiwan independence" separatist forces, Zhao said at a daily news conference.

"China is strongly dissatisfied, firmly opposes the move, and has made solemn representations to the United States," he said.

"Taiwan is a sacred and inalienable part of China. It's in no way a card to play in international relations," Zhao said. "Our word of advice for some in the US is to not play 'the Taiwan card', because it's a bad one, and they will definitely lose."

Also, Taiwan authorities will reach a "dead end" by soliciting US support to seek "Taiwan independence", he added.

Zhu Fenglian, spokeswoman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, urged "some people in the US Congress" to deal with the Taiwan question cautiously and stop emboldening separatist activities.

In another development, China has changed the name of its diplomatic mission to Lithuania to "The Office of the Charge d'Affaires" in further response to the Baltic country allowing the opening of a "representative office" under the name of Taiwan on its territory.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry officially notified its Lithuanian counterpart of the name change decision on Friday and asked Lithuania to change the name of its diplomatic mission to China, Zhao said at the news conference.

"This is a just countermeasure China has taken against Lithuania undermining its sovereignty, and Lithuania bears full responsibility," he said.

"The Chinese government is firmly resolved to maintain China's national sovereignty, security and development interests. Any action to challenge China's core interests will fail," Zhao said.

China announced on Sunday a downgrading of its diplomatic relations with Lithuania to the level of charge d'affaires days after the office opened.

By allowing the office to open, Lithuania has "flagrantly created the false impression of 'one China, one Taiwan' in the world, and set an egregious precedent", Zhao said, urging Lithuania to make corrections immediately.