‘Inverting black and white’ Beijing slams US ambassador’s comments about Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan

China’s foreign ministry slammed the comments made by the U.S. ambassador to China in an interview with the media about Speaker Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan and Beijing’s reaction. Chinese state media said the comments by Ambassador Burns were “extremely inconsistent” with his status as a senior diplomat.

On Monday (August 22, 2022), the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs website published a statement from the spokesperson slamming the remarks made by Ambassador Burns in an exclusive interview with CNN last Friday.

The statement said that Ambassador Burns’ remarks “converted black and white” and once again exposed the US’s “rhetoric and hegemonic logic.”

The statement mentioned that after the US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taiwan, Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng immediately summoned Ambassador Burns to make solemn representations and strong protests to the US on behalf of the Chinese government. Xie Feng summoned Burns again on the evening of August 8 after making a so-called “distorted fact” comment.

The statement concluded by urging the U.S. side to abide by respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other countries, and to stop all words and deeds that harm China’s core interests.

Burns, the U.S. ambassador to China, took office six months ago. In an exclusive interview with CNN, he talked about U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in early August and China’s strong backlash, including unprecedented large-scale actual combat military exercises around Taiwan, and suspension or Disruption of U.S.-China ties or exchange programs.

He told CNN that China has overreacted to Pelosi’s visit, calling it a crisis created by Beijing.

Burns said China now needs to convince the rest of the world that it is not a “destabilizing factor” and will act peacefully in the Taiwan Strait.

Earlier, Ambassador Burns took to social media Twitter to argue with a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry over Beijing’s cancellation of cooperation with the United States in tackling climate change and cooperating in the fight against drugs.

China’s official Global Times, in an editorial, accused the ambassador of “blazing and arrogant” remarks that were highly inconsistent with his status as a senior diplomat.