China has voiced its displeasure at Thursday's announcement of the latest visit by a top-level US official to Taiwan, calling it "extremely wrong," according to state media.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had announced earlier Thursday that Kelly Craft, the US ambassador to the UN, would soon travel to the island, calling it "a reliable partner and vibrant democracy that has flourished despite CCP (Chinese Communist Party) efforts to undermine its great success".
"Taiwan shows what a free China could achieve," he added.
Later, Beijing decried what state-run Xinhua described as "any form of official ties between the United States and China's Taiwan region."
Taiwan affairs spokesperson Zhu Fenglian branded the visit "extremely wrong," Xinhua reported, and said it violates the "One China" principle and three China-US joint communiques.
Beijing says Taiwan is an inviolable part of China to be reclaimed, by force if necessary.
It has ramped up diplomatic and military pressure on Taiwan since the 2016 election of President Tsai Ing-wen, who views the island as a de facto sovereign nation and not part of "One China".
The outgoing Trump administration has sent a bevy of high-level diplomatic delegations to Taiwan in the last year as it clashes with China on trade, security and human rights.
No date was given for Craft's upcoming visit.