On the evening of January 16, 2024, the Chinese Embassy in the United States held a reception celebrating the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States and the 2024 Chinese New Year. Chinese Ambassador to the United States Xie Feng attended the reception and delivered remarks.

Ambassador Xie encouraged people from various communities in the United States to revisit the Taiwan-related paragraphs in the China-U.S. joint communiqué on the establishment of diplomatic relations. He emphasized that it is stated in black and white in the communiqué that “The United States of America recognizes the Government of the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal Government of China. Within this context, the people of the United States will maintain cultural, commercial, and other unofficial relations with the people of Taiwan.” Today, the Taiwan question remains the most important, sensitive and explosive question in China-U.S. relations. Without stability across the Taiwan Strait, the China-U.S. relationship would be on shaky ground.

Ambassador Xie said that the Taiwan region held elections a few days ago. No matter how the situation on the island may unfold, it will not change the fact that there is but one China in the world and that Taiwan is part of China; it will not change the prevailing consensus among the international community on the one-China principle; nor will it change the historical trend that China will realize reunification and Taiwan will return to its motherland. Maintaining peace and stability across the Strait serves the best interests of both China and the United States. To achieve this, the most important guardrails are the three Sino-U.S. joint communiques, and the most pressing task is to curb the “Taiwan independence” forces, which pose the fundamental menace to peace and stability in the Strait.