Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe warned his US counterpart in a phone call Thursday to avoid firing up bilateral tensions, a day after Washington angered Beijing by announcing it would send a senior official to visit Taiwan.

Wei told US Defense Secretary Mark Esper in a 90-minute phone call to "stop erroneous words and deeds" and "avoid taking dangerous moves that may escalate the situation," referring directly to Taiwan and the South China Sea, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

But Esper told Wei that China was undertaking destabilizing activity, according to the Pentagon, showing no sign of backing down as the US rejects China's claims of sovereignty in both areas.

"The secretary called for greater PRC transparency on COVID, expressed concerns about PRC destabilizing activity in the vicinity of Taiwan in the South China Sea and called on the PRC to honor international obligations," said Defense Department spokesman Jonathan Hoffman.

- Rising tensions -

The call came as the United States steps up a broad diplomatic campaign against Beijing, accusing it of everything from massive human rights violations to attempting to colonize the South China Sea region, to using technology like popular app TikTok to harvest the personal information of hundreds of millions of people worldwide.

On Wednesday Beijing bristled in anger after Washington said it would send Health Secretary Alex Azar to Taiwan, where he will meet with President Tsai Ing-wen and other officials.

Azar will be the most senior US cabinet member to visit Taiwan since 1979, which, owing to China's territorial claim on the island, does not have official diplomatic relations with the United States despite their close alliance.

Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, called for the visit to be cancelled.

"China firmly opposes official exchanges between the US and Taiwan," Wang said Wednesday.

"We urge the US to abide by the one-China principle... to avoid seriously endangering Sino-US relations, as well as peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait."

Beijing views Taiwan as its own territory -- vowing to one day seize it -- and bristles at any moves by other countries to recognize or communicate with Taipei.

Tsai, though, called the visit "another testament to the strong Taiwan-US partnership," a relationship underscored by extensive defense cooperation and US arms sales.

- Esper hopes to visit China -

The long call came as Esper says he hopes to visit China before year-end for talks on improving crisis communications, which are increasingly important as US naval forces regularly conduct operations near Taiwan and in the South China Sea, effectively challenging China's territorial claims.

According to Hoffman, Esper underscored the need for a "constructive, stable and results-oriented defense relationship" between the two sides.

Esper also raised the issue of China's mishandling of the initial COVID-19 outbreak, as President Donald Trump blames Beijing for the global pandemic that has killed nearly 160,000 Americans.

But no agreement was made on a trip, Hoffman said, amid constant worries that some sort of accident could bring the two sides to a clash.

- TikTok -

The call came as the US and China butt heads on numerous fronts.

Two weeks ago Washington ordered Beijing to close its consulate in Houston, labelling it a hub of spying and theft of US corporate secrets. In retaliation China shut the US consulate in Chengdu.

And on Wednesday Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States would seek to ban other Chinese apps and restrict the cloud computing services to Americans by major Chinese companies like AliBaba and TenCent.

"The US move to turn China into an adversary is a fundamental strategic miscalculation," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Wednesday.

"It means that the US is funneling its strategic resources in the wrong area," he said, according to Xinhua.

US plan for 'highest level' Taiwan visit in decades angers China
Taipei (AFP) Aug 5, 2020 - The United States announced Wednesday its highest-level visit to Taiwan since it switched diplomatic recognition to China in 1979, a move Beijing blasted as a threat to "peace and stability".

The visit, headed by health chief Alex Azar, comes as relations between the world's two biggest powers plunge to historic lows.

Azar, speaking to Fox News, praised Taipei as an example of good governance, singling out its successful handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

"Taiwan has been a model of transparency, cooperation and collaboration in the international community," he added. "Their response to COVID has been incredible."

He has previously accused China of attempting to conceal the outbreak, which first emerged in the city of Wuhan late last year.

Azar will be the first cabinet member to visit in six years, and the "highest level visit" by a US cabinet official since 1979, according to Washington's de facto embassy, the American Institute in Taiwan. No date was given yet for the visit.

Washington remains the leading arms supplier to the island but has historically been cautious in holding official contacts with it.

Beijing views Taiwan as its own territory -- vowing to one day seize it -- and bristles at any moves by other countries to recognise or communicate with Taipei.

"China firmly opposes official exchanges between the US and Taiwan," Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said as he called for the visit to be cancelled.

"We urge the US to abide by the one-China principle... to avoid seriously endangering Sino-US relations, as well as peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait."

Taiwan said Azar would meet President Tsai Ing-wen.

"(The) timely visit is another testament to the strong Taiwan-US partnership based on our longstanding friendship and shared values," Tsai wrote on Twitter.

Relations have warmed dramatically under President Donald Trump, who has used embracing democratic Taiwan more closely as a way to hit back at authoritarian Beijing as he clashes with China on a host of issues, including trade and coronavirus.

- Blossoming friendship -

Taiwan's success at stopping its own virus outbreak -- and its emergence as one of Asia's most progressive democracies -- has also earned the island growing bipartisan support in Washington.

"The Trump administration is increasing its relations with Taiwan to a record-high level, sending a message to China that the US will not sacrifice Taiwan for its relations with China," Eric Huang, an international relations analyst at Tamkang University in Taipei, told AFP.

Shortly after Trump's election win in 2016, Tsai phoned to congratulate him, making him the first president -- sitting or newly elected -- to speak directly with a Taiwanese leader since 1979.

Taiwan is massively outgunned by China and Trump's administration has sold a number of big-ticket military items -- including fighter jets -- that previous presidents more wary of angering Beijing had balked at.

Trump also signed a bipartisan bill in 2018 upgrading relations and allowing more high-level visits to take place.

In their statements Washington and Taipei painted Azar's visit as linked to Taiwan being a leading example in the battle against the pandemic.

Despite its proximity and close economic ties to China -- where the outbreak emerged late last year -- Taiwan has fewer than 500 cases and just seven deaths thanks to a world-class tracing and testing regime and a virtual shutdown of its borders.

- 'Less contentious' -

But Beijing sees Azar's visit as part of a wider attempt to give Taiwan greater international recognition.

It has ramped up diplomatic, economic and military pressure on Taiwan ever since the 2016 election of Tsai, who rejects Beijing's view that the island in part of "one China".

It keeps Taiwan diplomatically frozen out of global bodies such as the World Health Organization, and has poached its dwindling number of official allies.

That pressure campaign has only bolstered Tsai, who won a landslide re-election earlier this year.

"Beijing... will likely view (the visit) as further evidence of the Trump administration moving away from the 'one China policy'," Bonnie Glaser, director of the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told AFP.

"But it isn't precedent-setting and it is justifiable given Taiwan's exemplary performance in responding to COVID-19 and Beijing's exclusion of Taiwan from the World Health Assembly."

Related Links
Taiwan News at SinoDaily.com

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US plan for 'highest level' Taiwan visit in decades angers China
Taipei (AFP) Aug 5, 2020
The United States announced Wednesday its highest-level visit to Taiwan since it switched diplomatic recognition to China in 1979, a move Beijing blasted as a threat to "peace and stability". The visit, headed by health chief Alex Azar, comes as relations between the world's two biggest powers plunge to historic lows. "This marks... the first Cabinet member to visit in six years, and the highest level visit by a US Cabinet official since 1979," said Washington's de facto embassy, the American In ... read more