BEIJING - A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Thursday criticized the remarks on Taiwan by an anonymous US State Department official, saying they are a reflection of typical US arrogance and hegemonism.

According to media reports, the US official said China is using Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan to change the status quo across the Taiwan Straits.

The US official was calling black white and acted like "thief crying stop thief," Hua said.

She asked the US side four questions.

The first is: what is the status quo on the Taiwan question? Hua said it is crystal clear that both sides of the Taiwan Straits belong to one and the same China, and Taiwan is part of China's territory.

Although the two sides have been politically against each other for a long time, China's sovereignty and territorial integrity have never been split. This is the real status quo of the Taiwan question, she added.

The second question is who is creating the crisis across the Taiwan Straits. Hua said the United States has colluded with "Taiwan independence" separatist forces to make provocations, and that is the fundamental reason for tensions across the Taiwan Straits.

In recent years, the Democratic Progressive Party authorities abandoned the 1992 Consensus embodying the one-China principle and solicited US support in seeking "Taiwan independence". Meanwhile, the US side, in pursuing its strategic aim of containing China's development, has constantly distorted, obscured and hollowed out the one-China principle, upgraded its level of exchanges with Taiwan, and intensified arms sales to Taiwan.

Hua said Pelosi's visit to Taiwan gravely violated the commitments made by the US government to China on the Taiwan question, violated the basic norms governing international relations and infringed upon China's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

"Who is responsible for tensions across the Taiwan Straits?" Hua asked. She said China has repeatedly pointed out the severity of Pelosi's visit to Taiwan and made it clear that the US must assume full responsibility for any ensuing consequences.

Hua said the US side made provocations first, whereas China has been compelled to act in self-defense. The Chinese government has the right to do everything necessary to firmly defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The fourth question is: who is changing the status quo on the Taiwan question. Hua said the wrongful actions made by the US side 25 years ago do not constitute a precedent to defend Pelosi's visit, and still less, should it become an excuse for the US to repeat its mistake on the Taiwan question.

China will not allow the United States to continue nibbling at, obscuring and hollowing out the one-China principle in a gradual way, and will never allow the US side to gradually change the status quo across the Taiwan Straits for any reason or excuse.

The current tensions across the Taiwan Straits, as a result of Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, are entirely of the US' own making, the spokesperson said, adding that if the US side truly wants to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits, the most important point is to strictly abide by the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques, both in words and deeds.