China urges US to handle Taiwan issue ‘with utmost caution’

BEIJING, July 1 (Reuters) – Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged the U.S. to handle matters related to Taiwan with “the utmost caution”, during a phone call with U.S. ​Secretary of ‌State ​Marco ​Rubio on Tuesday, Wang’s ministry said on Wednesday.

“A slight move on the Taiwan issue could affect the whole situation,” Wang said, adding that China and the U.S. should work to manage all kinds of risks, according to an official Chinese summary of the phone conversation.

The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The call followed a mid-May summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump in Beijing, where Xi told Trump that mishandling the countries’ disagreements over Taiwan could push China-U.S. relations into an “extremely dangerous place”.

Beijing claims the democratically governed island as its own territory and refuses to rule out military force to gain control of it. Taipei rejects Beijing’s claims, and the United States is bound by law to provide Taipei with ​the means to defend itself.

Wang said the U.S. and China should work to build a “constructive, strategically stable ​relationship”.

“Both sides should eliminate disruptions, overcome obstacles, and continue firmly along this correct direction,” Wang said.

The Chinese foreign ministry said Wang and Rubio agreed to “continue maintaining communication in a flexible manner”.

(Reporting by Xiuhao Chen, Yukun Zhang and Ryan WooEditing by Kevin Liffey, Peter Graff)