US should cautiously handle Taiwan question: Foreign Ministry spokesman

Beijing said on Monday the US should handle the Taiwan question with caution to avoid severely damaging bilateral ties and peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits after it was reported the US was mulling changing the name of Taiwan's mission in Washington.

Reports said US President Joe Biden was seriously considering a request from the Taiwan authority to change the name "Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office" to "Taiwan Representative Office".

China has lodged stern representations with the US over relevant moves, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a daily news briefing.

Zhao noted the Taiwan question is the core issue that is the most important and sensitive in Sino-American relations where the one-China principle is the political foundation.

The US side had made clear promises in the Joint Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between the United States of America and the People's Republic of China that the people of the United States will maintain cultural, commercial and other unofficial relations with the people of Taiwan, Zhao said.

Zhao also noted President Biden said the US side had no intention to change the one-China policy during his phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping last Friday.

"The US side should earnestly abide by the one-China principle and stipulations of the three Sino-US Joint Communiques and take concrete actions to deliver its relevant promises," the spokesman said.

It should refrain from conducting official contacts in any form and elevating substantial relations, including changing the name of "Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office" in the US to "Taiwan Representative Office", and stop sending wrong signals to Taiwan independence separatists, Zhao said.