China has warned the United States of America against playing with fire in its relation with Taiwan.
Chinese leader, President Xi Jinping gave the warning on Tuesday during a virtual summit with US President Joe Biden.
He warned that encouraging Taiwanese independence would be “playing with fire”, during a talk that has been described as most substantial since Biden took office in January.
The self-ruled island of Taiwan was of one the major topics during the summit.
America has pledged to help Taiwan defend itself in the event of an attack and China’s state-run Global Times said Mr Xi blamed recent tensions on “repeated attempts by the Taiwan authorities to look for US support for their independence agenda as well as the intention of some Americans to use Taiwan to contain China”.
“Such moves are extremely dangerous, just like playing with fire. Whoever plays with fire will get burnt,” it said.
The White House said Mr Biden “strongly opposes unilateral efforts to change the status quo or undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait”.