China sanctions groups, Taiwan official for Tsai’s US visit

TAIPEI, Apr 07 (AP): China announced sanctions Friday against two Asia-based organizations and Taiwan's representative in the U.S. in response to the closely watched meeting this week between the U.S. House Speaker and Taiwan's president.

The Prospect Foundation and the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats were being sanctioned for their involvement in promoting Taiwan independence "under the guise of academic and research exchanges," China's Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson, Zhu Fenglian, said.

Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy held talks with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in California this week in a rare high-level, bipartisan meeting on U.S. soil.

The meeting came as U.S.-China relations have sunk to historic lows and as tensions between Taiwan and China have risen. China views any official exchanges between foreign governments and Taiwan as an attempt to raise Taipei's global status, and thus an infringement on Beijing's claims of sovereignty over the island.

China had vowed countermeasures against Taipei for its interactions with the U.S. "We will take resolute measures to punish the 'Taiwan independence' separatist forces and their actions, and resolutely safeguard our country's sovereignty and territorial integrity," China's Taiwan Affairs Office said in a statement Thursday, referring to Tsai and her political party as separatists.