On Friday, US President Donald Trump signed a controversial legislation that encourages the US government to send some of its senior officials to Taiwan to meet with Taiwanese officers and vice versa.
The non-binding bill took effect on Saturday morning and would have done so even if the president did not sign it according to the White House.
However, the result of this act adds strain between the relations of China and the US, especially in the issue of trade. Trump has recently enacted tariffs and called for China to reduce its trade imbalances with the US even if the US has been adamant that China should take an active part in reducing tensions with North Korea.
China has immediately reacted against the act as it sees Taiwan as a rebel province. On Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang stressed that China is against the legislation and urged the US to adhere to the "one China" policy.
In a statement, the Chinese embassy in the US said that the clauses of the new legislation "severely violate the one-China principle, the political foundation of the China-U.S. relationship."
It also said "China is strongly dissatisfied with that and firmly opposes it" and the US should "stop pursuing any official ties with Taiwan or improving its current relations with Taiwan in any substantive way."
Meanwhile, Taiwan has welcomed the new bill and thanked the Trump administration for the move, saying that the government will be continuing efforts to deepen its cooperation with the US.
