India tells China not to see 'politics' over Taiwanese team visit

India on Wednesday dismissed China’s strong objection to the visit of a Taiwanese parliamentary team to India, saying no “political meanings” should be read into such trips.

China lodged a protest with India for hosting the Taiwanese parliamentary team, asking it to deal “prudently” with Taiwan-related matters.

Vikas Swarup, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, said, “We understand that a group of Taiwanese academics and business persons, including a couple of legislators, is visiting India. Such informal groups have visited India in the past as well for business, religious and tourist purposes.”

He said, “I understand that they do so to China as well. There is nothing new or unusual about such visits and political meanings should not be read into them.”  The Chinese foreign ministry, however, said on Wednesday that Beijing has lodged a diplomatic protest with India over the visit by a parliamentary delegation from Taiwan. China considers Taiwan a wayward province, with no right to formal diplomatic ties with other countries. “We hope India would understand and respect China’s core concerns and stick to the ‘One-China’ principle and prudently deal with Taiwan-related issues and maintain sound and steady development of India-China relations,” said Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang.