China’s defense minister said Friday Beijing will “under no circumstances” refrain from using force to achieve reunification with Taiwan, nor will it tolerate Taipei seeking international support to achieve territory independence.
Li Shangfu’s position was conveyed to Singapore’s Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen, Chinese army spokesman Tan Kefei said in a statement.
The minister specifically mentioned the Progressive Democratic Party, which is currently in power in Taiwan and is pro-independence, as the island prepares to hold presidential elections in January.
China and Taiwan have been living as two autonomous regions since 1949, when the former Chinese nationalist government sought refuge on the island after its civil war defeat by the communists. Beijing considers Taiwan part of its territory and threatens to reunite it by force if the island formally declares independence.
“We will continue to strive for peaceful reunification with the greatest sincerity and the greatest efforts,” said the Chinese minister. “But we will never tolerate any attempt by the Democratic Progressive Party authorities to seek foreign support to achieve Taiwan’s independence, nor will we tolerate any attempt by outside forces to use Taiwan to contain China,” he said. he said.
“We will absolutely not promise to refrain from using force,” he stressed.
The statements echo Chinese President Xi Jinping’s speech at the 20th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, which took place last October.
Xi then said China would continue to strive for peaceful reunification with the “greatest sincerity and greatest efforts”, but that it would “never promise to refrain from the use of force” and “reserved the possibility to take all necessary measures “. .
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen is about to complete her second term in office and cannot stand for re-election.
For the upcoming elections, the DPP nominated Vice President William Lai Ching-te, who supports the view that Taiwan is a sovereign and independent state and does not belong to the People’s Republic of China.
Li Shangfu is leading a delegation of dozens of senior Chinese military officials and defense experts who will participate in the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia’s largest security forum, which kicked off today.
The minister, who is taking part in the forum for the first time, is expected to speak on China’s new security initiatives on Sunday.
Source: DN
