China’s foreign minister on Tuesday demanded that the United States stop interfering in the Taiwan issue, adding that Beijing retains the “option to act” if the island declares its independence.
“We reserve the option to act if there is a circumstance that violates the PRC law against separatism,” Qin Gang told a news conference on the sidelines of the annual session of the National People’s Congress, China’s top legislative body. China.
“The determination of the Chinese people to uphold sovereignty cannot be underestimated,” he stressed. “That’s a red line that can’t be crossed.”
The Chinese ruler said the United States “must stop interfering in China’s internal affairs.” “Why don’t you respect China’s sovereignty on the Taiwan issue, but demand that we show respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty?” “Why are you sending arms to Taiwan and asking us not to send arms to Russia?”
“If the United States wants peace, it must stop using Taiwan to contain China and reject and prevent Taiwan’s independence,” he said.
Answering a question about Taiwan, Qin opened a copy of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China, citing that the island is “sacred territory.”
“Separatism in Taiwan is not compatible with peace. The threat is secessionism. And if the United States does not change its attitude, ties with China could be severely damaged, ”she said.
“It’s China’s business, period. It is not something that other countries have to consider. Some US officials say otherwise, we reject it and we are watching,” she added.
At the opening of the plenary session of the National People’s Congress last Sunday, outgoing Premier Li Keqiang vowed that China will “resolutely fight” against Taiwan’s “independence” and “for the sake of the reunification of the motherland.” .
China considers Taiwan part of its territory, not a sovereign political entity, and has threatened to use force to seize control of the island. The territory is also a source of tension between Beijing and Washington, Taipei’s main ally and arms supplier.
Last August, the visit to Taipei by former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sparked strong protests from the Chinese government, which viewed the trip as a provocation and launched military exercises around the island on an unprecedented scale. .
A destination for farmers and fishermen from China’s Fujian and Guangdong provinces, Taiwan has been under Dutch, Spanish, Chinese and Japanese rule over the centuries. At the end of World War II, the territory became part of the Republic of China, under the Nationalist government of Chiang Kai-shek.
After the defeat against the Communist Party, in the Chinese civil war, in 1949, the Nationalist Government took refuge on the island, which maintains, to this day, the official name of the Republic of China, in opposition to the People’s Republic of China, on the Chinese mainland.
For Beijing, Taiwan is a barrier to the projection of its power in the Asia-Pacific region, due to its geostrategic location between the South China Sea and the East China Sea, in the center of the so-called “first chain of islands”. . . The reunification of the territory has become a primary goal in Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s “rejuvenation of the great Chinese nation” project.
For the United States, the ‘fall’ of Taiwan would undermine the credibility of its alliance system in Asia Pacific, dictating the end of US geostrategic dominance in the region.
Source: TSF
