There is a lot to straighten out between China and the United States. Yet during the Oct 31 meeting of State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and US State Secretary Antony Blinken, the Chinese chief diplomat put the spotlight on Taiwan as the most important.

"The Taiwan question is the most sensitive one between China and the US," Wang told his US counterpart. "The mishandling of which will result in disruptive, all-round damage to China-US relations."

Reiterating, once again, Beijing's stance on the matter, Wang urged Washington to practice a "genuine", rather than a "false" one-China policy.

Not just Blinken, everyone familiar with contemporary Chinese diplomacy knows the very special position concerns about Taiwan command on Beijing's foreign policy agenda. Time and again, on various official occasions, Beijing has made every effort in its capacity to make sure its international partners are aware of, and abide by the principle that there is only one China in the world, and Taiwan is a part of it.

Since the United Nations General Assembly reinstated the People's Republic of China as the sole representative of China through Resolution 2758 in 1971, that principle has been widely accepted as an international jurisprudential truth as well as the reality.

However, the physical divide between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits has never stopped inspiring attempts, both on the island and by some countries, to exploit it — either to seek "independence", or simply to create trouble for Beijing.

Despite repeated US statements, most recently Blinken's during his Rome meeting with Wang, on there being "no change" in its commitment to the one-China policy, Washington has never stopped playing the "Taiwan card". Following the Donald Trump administration's continuous provocations regarding Taiwan, the current administration is now urging that Taiwan be granted "meaningful participation" at the UN and other international organizations.

A delegation of European Union parliamentarians visiting Taiwan have echoed Washington's call, and they are expected to meet the island's leader on Thursday. As the first official visit by an EU delegation, the trip is no doubt provocative, and contradicts the EU's official stance of adhering to the one-China policy. Especially since the delegation features members of the EU Special Committee on Foreign Interference in all Democratic Processes in the European Union, including Disinformation, and reportedly discussing alleged "intensifying disinformation" from the Chinese mainland is on the agenda for discussion.

A provocative move by a small number of sensation-seeking parliament members may not make substantial waves. But the European Parliament's recent resolution calling for the EU to "intensify EU-Taiwan political relations" means this may not be the last of its kind.

Yet trampling over a very clear key red line Beijing has drawn regarding a core national interest will finally have a price.