China has urged the United States not to “gesticulate” or make irresponsible remarks about governments dropping diplomatic support for self-ruled Taiwan. China’s Foreign Ministry made the comment after the US State Department said on Friday that it had recalled its top diplomats in the Dominican Republic, El Salvador and Panama over those states’ decisions to no longer recognize Taiwan.
Ministry spokesman in Beijing, Geng Shuang, said on Monday that deciding who to have diplomatic relations with was a sovereign nation’s right and should be respected, Reuters reports. “Other countries have no right to make thoughtless remarks about it or to gesticulate,” Geng said.