Feb. 18 (UPI) — China has rebuked the United States after the U.S. State Department remove a statement from its website declaring it does not support Taiwan independence.

The statement, “We do not support Taiwan independence,” was removed from the U.S. State Department’s fact sheet on U.S. relations with Taiwan in an update on Thursday.

During a Monday press conference, China’s foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun accused the United States of having “gravely backpedaled” on its Taiwan position.

“This move severely violates the one-China principle,” he said, “… and sends a seriously wrong signal to the separatists forces for ‘Taiwan independence.'”

“We urge the U.S. to immediately correct its wrongdoings, abide by the one-China principle and three China-U.S. communiques, handle the Taiwan question with extra prudence, stop using Taiwan to contain China, stop upgrading its substantive relations with Taiwan, stop helping Taiwan expand so-called international space, stop emboldening and supporting ‘Taiwan independence’ and avoid further severe damage to China-U.S. relations and peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” he added.

Despite Taiwan never having been a part of mainland China, which was formed in 1949, Beijing views the self-governing democratic island as a rogue province and has vowed to take it by force if necessary.

Under the one-China policy, China forces nations to choose whether they want to have diplomatic relations with it or Taiwan.

The United States terminated its diplomatic relations with Taiwan in favor of China in 1979 and has maintained the one-China policy since.

However, Washington has a so-called unofficial relationship with Taiwan that has deepened over the years as the United States’ competition with Beijing has grown.

President Joe Biden, during his administration, four times stated that the United States would defend Taiwan from a Chinese invasion, though the White House afterward repeated that its policy toward the self-governing island had not changed.

The State Department’s website was changed less than a month after the inauguration of President Donald Trump, who took a hard stance against China during his first administration.

Last week, two U.S. Navy vessels transited the Taiwan Strait, marking the first time U.S. military ships have traveled through the disputed channel this year.