A number of Chinese state-run media outlets blasted U.S. senators for their stopover in Taipei, Taiwan, one calling it a “treacherous move” Monday.
Democratic Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth, Republican Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan and Democratic Delaware Sen. Chris Coons flew to Taipei for a brief visit Sunday, announcing that the U.S. will donate 750,000 vaccines to the country struggling with its first serious outbreak since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, The Guardian reported.
In adversity we see true friendship. Thank you USA for supporting Taiwan’s urgent vaccine needs，and thank you @SenDuckworth @SenDanSullivan @ChrisCoons for bringing the good news. pic.twitter.com/5v9EGrMH3W
— Bi-khim Hsiao 蕭美琴 (@bikhim) June 6, 2021
The senators traveled on a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III, which marked the first landing of an American military plane in Taiwan in more than four decades, according to Newsweek.
China’s Xinhua News Agency said Washington was “once again challenging Beijing’s red line over the Taiwan question.”
The piece accused the U.S. of an attempt to “stage an anti-China political farce and offer some symbolic support for the current Taiwan authorities that are overwhelmed by the raging pandemic situation in the island,” Newsweek reported.
“Such a treacherous move of Washington has nothing to do with fighting COVID-19 as it claimed, and will only increase tensions in the region,” the agency wrote. (RELATED: ‘This Is Pitiful And It’s Not Attractive’: Dana Perino Blasts John Cena For ‘Groveling’ To China)
Another piece tearing into the U.S. vaccine donation efforts for “fueling the frictions in cross-straits relations” was published Monday by the state-owned China Daily, Newsweek reported.
Previously, Chinese state media launched an attack on the Taiwanese authorities for refusing to accept vaccines from Beijing, the report says.
