Chinese Ambassador to UN: World Sees Clearly Who Provoking Who on Taiwan

The statement comes amid a recent flare-up between the US and China over visits of high-ranking US officials to Taiwan, which Beijing regards as an inseparable part of China.

The world sees clearly who is provoking who on Taiwan, and China will continue to defend its sovereignty, the Chinese ambassador to the United Nations Zhang Jun said.

"The whole world is seeing clearly who is provoking, who is changing the status quo and who is trying to create troubles...We will continue to do whatever we can to defend our sovereignty and territorial integrity," the ambassador said.

Earlier in the day, China's Ministry of Defense slammed the visit of a US congressional delegation to Taiwan, saying that it violates the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The delegation arrived in Taiwan two weeks after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's controversial visit to Taipei, which seriously worsened US-China relations.

Beijing considers Taiwan, which has been governed independently since breaking from mainland China in 1949, its sovereign territory, saying that it will eventually reunify with the mainland under the "one country, two systems" model. Officially, the US adheres to the One China Policy. However, Washington has long maintained unofficial relations with Taipei, including by supplying arms to the island so that it can "defend itself."