China will and should take timely countermeasures against the US and all "Taiwan independence" secessionist forces through diplomatic and military means if US legislation that encourages high-level contact between the US and the island of Taiwan is implemented, Chinese observers said on Sunday.
"The passing of the act is a serious political provocation, as it has crossed the 'red line' and will thoroughly undermine relations," Xu Guangyu, a retired China's People's Liberation Army major general, told the Global Times.
The legislation, known as the Taiwan Travel Act, came into effect on Friday when US President Donald Trump signed the bill.
On Sunday the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council stated that the island will suffer serious consequences if it attempts to act on the US bill.
China said on Saturday that the country "firmly opposes the US side signing the 'Taiwan Travel Act,'" while urging "the US side to correct its mistake, stop pursuing any official ties with Taiwan or improving its current relations with Taiwan in any substantive way, and handle Taiwan-related issues properly and cautiously so as to avoid causing severe damage to China-US relations and cross-Straits peace and stability," according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry website.
China's Anti-Secession Law provides a series of conditions wherein the Taiwan question is solved through non-peaceful means.
If the US were to send any senior officials to Taiwan or make any moves to elevate its relations with the island of Taiwan, China would have no choice but to respond with counter moves that will deeply impact the US, Liu Weidong, a research fellow at the Institute of American Studies of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Time on Sunday.
He believes Beijing will likely stop sending high-ranking officials to Washington and refuse any official exchanges with Washington for a period of time.
If any "Taiwan independence" secessionist forces perceive the US bill as a 'pro-independence' signal, the Chinese army will resume its military probes circling the island and send more military vessels and airplanes to patrol the Straits, Liu said.
US President Donald Trump signed the "Taiwan Travel Act" on Friday, but it would gone into effect on Saturday morning even if Trump had not signed it, Reuters reported.
The bill, which was passed by the US Congress last month, amends US policy to allow visits by officials at all levels. High-level Taiwan officials should be permitted to enter the US to meet US counterparts, said the Reuters report.
The legislation follows a number of provocative moves by the US against China.
US President Donald Trump is seeking to impose tariffs on up to $60 billion of Chinese imports and will target the technology and telecommunications sectors, two people who had discussed the issue with the Trump administration said on Tuesday, according to another report of Reuters.
