China calls US ‘a bully’ after White House official’s comments

A spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry hit back at comments from Kurt Campbell, the National Security Council Indo-Pacific coordinator, that the country “overreacted” to Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) Taiwan trip earlier this month.

“It is clear that the U.S. is trying to defend the indefensible by applying a gangster logic and acting like a bully,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin during a press conference Wednesday, according to transcripts. 

China has appeared to retaliate against Taiwan for Pelosi’s visit through a number of means, including military drills in the Taiwan Strait and bans on key imports from the self-governed island.  

Campbell had said during an on-the-record press call last week that “China has overreacted, and its actions continue to be provocative, destabilizing and unprecedented.” 

Campbell said China’s recent actions are “fundamentally at odds with the goal of peace and stability” and “part of an intensified pressure campaign against Taiwan.” 

Wang on Wednesday countered that “it is the U.S., not China, that has undermined cross-strait peace and stability,” alleging that Pelosi’s trip undermined China’s sovereignty. 

Beijing’s official stance is that there is only “one China,” of which Taiwan is a part. Taiwan calls itself the Republic of China and has been self-governed since 1949.

The U.S. affirms it does not support Taiwan’s independence but maintains an unofficial relationship with the island.