Mainland slams Lai Ching-te's "transit" trip to U.S.

BEIJING, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese mainland spokesperson on Thursday slammed Lai Ching-te, a politician with Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), for his upcoming "transit" trip to the United States.

Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, made the remarks in response to a media inquiry concerning the DPP's recent announcement on Lai's trip, which is scheduled for mid-August.

"We firmly oppose Lai Ching-te visiting the United States by any excuse or form, and firmly oppose any form of official exchange between the United States and China's Taiwan region," the spokesperson said, urging the U.S. side to abide by the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiques.

Lai obstinately adheres to the separatist position of "Taiwan independence," and his "transit" trip to the United States is for soliciting U.S. support for independence and grab selfish gains for his own election, which will ultimately damage the interests of the people of Taiwan and undermine the peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, Zhu said.

Facts will prove that Lai is an out-and-out "troublemaker," she said.