China's Defense Ministry defends cancellation of military talks

Chinese countermeasures to Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, including the cancellation of three Sino-US military talks, are "fully reasonable, appropriate and moderate", said the Defense Ministry on Monday morning.

"The countermeasures are the necessary warning to the provocations from the US and Taiwan region, as well as the justifiable defense of the national sovereignty and security," said Senior Colonel Wu Qian, a spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense.

His comments came after China announced eight countermeasures on Friday in response to the United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan island. Those measures involved three key bilateral military dialogues, including the Theater Commanders Talk, the Defense Policy Coordination Talks, and the Military Maritime Consultative Agreement meetings.

"The current tensions across the Taiwan Straits are fully caused by the provocations of the US, which must bear "full responsibility and serious consequences," Wu said, adding that the US side aided Pelosi's visit and created tensions deliberately despite China's stern representations.

The spokesman emphasized that "the bottom line cannot be breached and the communication needs sincerity", expressing firm opposition to the US side for creating crises in the name of managing crises, seeks pretext for its provocations and misleads the public opinion.

Wu urged the US side to practically respect China's core interests and major concerns and "give up the illusion of containing China by using Taiwan".