by Xinhua writer Jiang Li

BEIJING, July 25 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. warship sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday in the name of "commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific."

The recent months have seen a rising number of such sails in the strait. And it has not been the first time that the United States is trying to make waves in the Taiwan Strait or meddle in China's internal affairs on the issue of Taiwan.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said Thursday that the Taiwan issue has been the most important and sensitive issue in China-U.S. relations and urged Washington to abide by the one-China principle and the three joint communiques between the two countries.

Earlier this month, Washington, despite Beijing's strong opposition, has approved an arms sale to Taiwan. The arms package includes 250 Stinger missiles and 108 M1A2T Abrams tanks worth 2.2 billion U.S. dollars in total. It is the fourth sale to Taiwan by the current U.S. administration in two years.

It is apparent that the real purpose of these provocative moves, whether weapon sales or sails of military vessels in the Taiwan Strait, are trying to keep the so-called cross-strait military balance, flex its military muscle and show off its geopolitical presence.

These provocations are risking stirring new round of tensions in the region, and breaching the mutual political trust between Beijing and Washington. These actions have also emboldened the separatists in Taiwan to go even further in their efforts to seek "Taiwan independence."

It has been a common sense for the international community that there is only one China in the world, and Taiwan is part of China, and that the government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government of the Asian country. This one-China principle is also the political foundation for the healthy development of the China-U.S. ties.

Hardliners in Washington should not underestimate Beijing's rock solid determination to safeguard its national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Chinese military spokesperson Wu Qian said on Wednesday that Beijing is willing to strive for peaceful reunification with utmost sincerity and greatest efforts, but if anyone dares to split Taiwan from China, the Chinese military will not refrain from taking up arms to resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Taiwan separatists need to give up their fantasies to count on foreign intervention to keep China permanently divided. They need to find some sobriety to the fact that Washington's China hawks are merely using the island as one of their chess pieces in their strategic encirclement of China. They also need to stop daydreaming that Washington will come to their rescue when the day comes that the mainland will have to resort to a military unification with the Taiwan island.

China and the United States are the world's top two economies. A stable and vibrant relationship between the two carries vital importance not only for their respective interests, but also for the stability and prosperity of the wider international community.

Right now, the relationship between China and the United States is experiencing some twists and turns, notably in the economic and trade sectors. It is important for Beijing and Washington to ensure that their relationship travels in the right direction. But that has to start with Washington's real actions to observe the one-China principle and respect China's sovereign rights.