China warns Taiwan and human rights are ‘red lines’ ahead of Trump-Xi summit

China has warned that Taiwan and human rights are among issues that cannot be challenged ahead of a summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump in Washington.

Chinese ambassador to the US Xie Feng said Beijing’s sovereignty, security and development interests must be respected, describing Taiwan, democracy and human rights, development paths and systems, and development rights as “red lines”.

Writing in the Communist Party’s People’s Daily, Xie called for good faith in managing differences and urged the US to stop using issues including national security, economic imbalances and forced labour as reasons to constrain China. Taiwan remains a major source of tension between the two countries, with Beijing claiming the island as its territory while the US remains its main international backer and arms supplier.

Trump previously said he was delaying a proposed US arms package for Taiwan worth around $14 billion. China has repeatedly opposed American arms sales to Taiwan and says the issue is central to its relationship with Washington.

via Reuters