The remark made by the Prime Minister's Special Envoy to China Tiong King Sing on US House Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan did not reflect the position taken by the Foreign Ministry, said Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah.
“That is not the statement that was discussed in Wisma Putra,” Saifuddin (above) said at the sideline at a book launch today.
“I have made my views known while we were attending the Asean foreign ministers meeting held at Phnom Penh on Aug 3 where myself and other foreign ministers agreed that we should issue a statement as Asean (on the Taiwan situation),” he said.
“Basically, in the statement, we were talking about the need to ensure the region remained peaceful and that we uphold the ‘One China’ principle,” added Saifuddin.
Tiong, in a statement yesterday, condemned Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan, saying this has undermined regional stability.
The Bintulu MP said the US has violated the “One China” principle and the China-US “Three Joint Communiqués”.
He also urged Western countries not to practise double standards in the issues of Taiwan and Ukraine.
“On the one hand, they condemn Russia, protest Russian aggression against Ukraine, and call for Ukraine’s sovereignty, but on the other hand, they intend to interfere in the internal affairs of the Taiwan Strait region and use Taiwan to divide China.
“Malaysia hopes the situation will ease as soon as possible and we urge the US to deal with the matter with caution,” he said.
Pelosi, who kicked off her Asia trip last week, arrived in Malaysia on Tuesday morning and later made an unannounced two-day visit to Taiwan despite repeated warnings from China.
She was the most senior US official to visit Taiwan since 1997.
After attending a meeting with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-Wen on Wednesday, Pelosi pledged solidarity with Taiwan and hailed its democracy. - Mkini
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