China denounces US appeal for Taiwan to join WHO meeting

BEIJING  - China’s government criticized U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday for urging the World Health Organization to invite Taiwan, the island democracy claimed by Beijing as part of its territory, to participate in a meeting this month.

Blinken’s statement Friday adds to a similar joint appeal by foreign ministers of the Group of Seven major economies this month in London. That irked the Communist Beijing government, which insists Taiwan has no right to conduct foreign relations or join global bodies. Blinken’s appeal "seriously violates the ‘one-China principle’” and joint U.S.-Chinese declarations, said a Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Hua Chunying. "China firmly deplores and rejects it.”