China on Friday hit back at comments by the Polish prime minister that linked the war in Ukraine to a possible Chinese attack on Taiwan, accusing him of interfering in its internal affairs.
On Thursday Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said during a speech at the Atlantic Council think-tank in Washington D.C. that if Ukraine is defeated in its war with Russia, China may decide to invade Taiwan shortly afterwards.
"On April 13, a Polish government official... openly compared the issues of Taiwan and Ukraine, and made the unsubstantiated claim that if Ukraine loses the war, mainland China will attack Taiwan the next day," the spokesperson of the Chinese embassy in Warsaw said in a statement.
"Any attempt to use the Ukraine issue as a pretext to insinuate a relationship with the Taiwan issue is political manipulation with ulterior motives, mindless trampling on the principle of respect for national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and flagrant interference in China's internal affairs."
A Polish government spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment.
China in recent days has held intense military drills around Taiwan, which it claims as its own, and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control.
Poland reacted strongly to comments from French President Emmanuel Macron, who visited China last week. Macron said that the European Union should reduce its dependence on the U.S. and aim to become a "third pole" in world affairs alongside Washington and Beijing.
Both President Andrzej Duda and Morawiecki have stressed in recent days that the alliance with the United States is essential for European security, cautioning against any idea of "strategic autonomy" for Europe.
(Reporting by Alan Charlish)
