On July 11, 2022 local time, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi delivered a policy speech on renewing the firm commitment to open regionalism and answered questions at the ASEAN Secretariat.

Asked by reporters about the root cause of the current tensions across the Taiwan Strait and how to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, Wang Yi stressed, the one-China principle is what underpins stability across the Taiwan Strait.

Wang Yi said, history and practice have proved time and again that when the one-China principle is fully recognized and earnestly followed, the Taiwan Strait would remain calm and tranquil and the two sides across the Strait would enjoy peace and development. However, when the one-China principle is willfully challenged or even sabotaged, there would be dark clouds or even violent storms across the Taiwan Strait.

Wang Yi said, the current tensions across the Taiwan Strait are rooted in the fact that Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities have abandoned the 1992 Consensus, which embodies the one-China principle, undermining the important foundation for the peace and development of cross-Strait relations, and going further down the wrong path of seeking independence by soliciting foreign support. At the same time, it must be pointed out that the United States is constantly distorting and hollowing out the one-China principle, trying to disrupt and hinder China's development by playing the "Taiwan card".

Wang Yi said, people are now talking about maintaining the "status quo". What is the "status quo" of the Taiwan question? The facts are crystal clear. The two sides across the Taiwan Strait belong to one and the same China, and Taiwan is a part of China's territory. Though there has been political antagonism between the two sides of the Strait, China's national sovereignty and territorial integrity have never been severed. This is the true status quo of the Taiwan Strait, which has not changed since ancient times and will not change. Those challenging and undermining the status quo are precisely the DPP authorities that advocate "independence", and the external forces that attempt to use the Taiwan question to contain China.

Wang Yi stressed, the Taiwan question is the core of China's core interests, and safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity is the bounden responsibility of every Chinese people. Anyone, any force or any country should by no means dream of separating Taiwan from China.

Wang Yi pointed out, the one-China principle is also the basic principle for China to establish diplomatic ties with other countries, and constitutes a part of the post-World War II international order. China hopes and believes that all countries can fully recognize the serious harmfulness of "Taiwan independence" and secession, and work with China to uphold the one-China principle. A more clear-cut attitude in upholding the one-China principle and more forceful measures to contain separatist forces will lead to more possibilities for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and more guarantees for regional peace and prosperity.

Wang Yi said, the United States has stressed many times recently that it would safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of every country. Taking into account the track record of the U.S. side, China attaches great importance to these remarks, because they conform to the basic norms governing international relations and the purposes of the UN Charter. But we need to stress a point, that is, the United States should not apply double standards, nor should it chop and change. China's sovereignty and territorial integrity on the Taiwan question should also be respected and safeguarded. This is also a test of the international credibility of the United States as a major country.