Taiwan warns that China seeks expansion into the Pacific

Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu on Tuesday warned that the People's Republic of China seeks to expand its control not just to the island, but to a large swath of Pacific territory.

Wu warned of China's “geostrategic ambition beyond Taiwan,” according to the Associated Press, adding that “China has no right to interfere" with Taiwan.

The foreign minister's warnings come amid Chinese live-fire drills around the island and follow House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's recent visit over the objections of communist officials who warned the diplomatic mission would impair Sino-American relations.

Taiwan is the last bastion of the Republic of China, the nationalist government that ruled the mainland under Chiang Kai-shek prior to its defeat in 1949 in the Chinese Civil War.

Both the communist People's Republic of China and the Republic of China agree on the existence of a single Chinese nation that includes the territory of both governments as part of an unusual diplomatic arrangement known as the "One China Principle." Both regimes, however, claim the mantle of the unified China's legitimate government.

Taiwan does not formally claim independence from China and Beijing regards the island as being under separatist control, though the communist government has never directly administered it.

China maintains active border disputes with many of its neighbors. The Chinese military in 2020 participated in hostilities with India over competing claims in the Himalayan mountains.