Xi pledges action against foreign interference in Taiwan - TASS

China will strongly oppose foreign interference in the Taiwan issue or separatist activities aimed at the island’s independence, Chinese leader Xi Jinping said on Monday.

"It is necessary to stick to the ‘one China’ principle and the 1992 Consensus, while actively contributing to a peaceful development of relations between the two coasts of the Taiwan Strait and firmly opposing any foreign interference in separatist activities seeking `Taiwan’s independence’," he said, addressing the closing meeting of the first session of the 14th National People’s Congress on Monday.

Taiwan, China’s largest island, has been governed by its local administration since 1949. Official Beijing considers Taiwan a province of the People’s Republic of China.

Tensions in the Taiwan Strait escalated after former Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi paid a visit to Taipei last August. The People’s Liberation Army of China (PLA) launched large-scale military exercises involving live firing in six areas around the island the next day after Pelosi’s visit.