China’s ambassador to India Sun Weidong on Saturday termed the Taiwan issue as an “internal matter” to be resolved by the Chinese people but adopted a different stance on the question of the country’s attempted intrusions in Ladakh saying the boundary issue between the neighbours was a “historical burden left by colonial rule.””Taiwan question is an internal matter that is to be resolved by the Chinese people and government. No foreign power can change the status quo,” Weidong told reporters at a freewheeling press conference in New Delhi on Saturday.

However, the senior diplomat applied a different yardstick when asked about China’s position on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh and the boundary dispute with India. Weidong called it a “historical burden left by colonial rule.”Weidong was asked by journalists how Taiwan was an issue of territorial integrity but the same standards could not be applied to the question of eastern Ladakh.

“Taiwan question is purely an internal affair. Taiwan has always been and will always be a part of China. This is a fact and nobody can change. So how to solve the Taiwan question is the business of Chinese government and no foreign forces and so called Taipei independent forces could change that course, this is the firm determination of Chinese people,” said the top Chinese diplomat.

He, however, added that border dispute with India was a historical burden.

“On China-India border question, it is a historical burden of past. India and China have a boundary dispute, it is a fact. We believe that these issues are to be resolved through dialogue and consultation. We seek fair and mutually acceptable solution. Before that we should maintain peace and tranquility along the border. This is a boundary dispute. Not the kind of territorial dispute with China where other forces are trying to separate a part of China. This will not be tolerated by the people and government of China,” Weidong said.

As many as 16 rounds of commander-level talks and disengagement has taken place at some friction points at the LAC amid reports of China building massive infrastructure in the border areas.

India’s External Affairs minister S Jaishankar has said that the border situation between India and China continues to remain tense and the relationship cannot be normal until the situation eases.

Weidong also said that the political basis of India-China relations is ‘One China policy’. India and China are not rivals but partners. He said India is the one of the first countries to endorse one China policy and has also helped China in getting a place at the UN in 1971.

“It is in the United States’ playbook to create a problem and then fulfil its vested interests,” he alleged. The Chinese envoy said that his country will retaliate every move made by the US. He also said that more than 100 countries and organizations have supported the One China policyChinese president Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Uzbekistan next month for the SCO meet. Chinese envoy did not confirm any meeting between Modi and Xi in Tashkent.

—-ANI report in Beijing News Net