Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi issued his warning in a speech in Washington, where he nonetheless called for greater cooperation with President Barack Obama's administration despite recent rows.

"I want to stress that no matter how the situation across the Taiwan Strait may evolve, we will never waiver in our commitment to the one China principle and will never compromise our opposition to 'Taiwan independence,' 'two Chinas' or 'one China, one Taiwan,'" he said.

"We hope that the U.S. side will honor its commitments, prudently and properly handle Taiwan-related issues, and take concrete actions to support the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations," he said.

Yang was speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies at a closed-door luncheon before his meeting with Obama.

The think tank later released footage of the event, which was not publicly announced beforehand.

Yang said China would continue efforts to "bring about new progress in the peaceful development of cross-strait relations."

The U.S. in 1979 severed relations with Taiwan when it recognized Beijing as China's only legitimate government. However, the U.S. Congress at the same time approved a law requiring the United States retain the capability to defend Taiwan's security and provide "arms of a defensive character."

China has strongly opposed U.S. military sales to Taiwan.