As US-Taiwan strengthen ties, China warns ‘Taiwan’s independence’ means war

As the United States and Taiwan strengthen their ties, China’s Ministry of National Defence “warned” the people wanting “Taiwan independence” and said that seeking ‘Taiwan independence’ means nothing but war”.

Wu Qian, spokesperson of China’s Ministry of National Defence, on January 28 said that “those who play with fire will set themselves on fire, and seeking ‘Taiwan independence’ means nothing but war”.

According to an article by The Global Times, a Chinese state media, Taiwan’s “mainland affairs council” has warned that any of the mainland’s words and deeds that deliberately provoke Taiwan’s bottom line may cause far-reaching effects that the mainland cannot bear.

It further said, “We urge Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to give up their performance of pretending to be fearless. They are dividing the country and will eventually be eliminated by force if they don’t stop before it’s too late.”

This comes after a US aircraft carrier strike group led by the USS Theodore Roosevelt entered the South China Sea to promote “freedom of the seas”.

Taiwan and the Taiwan Strait region is a source of a tussle between the US and China owing to Washington’s support of Taiwan.

Taiwan had split from mainland China in the wake of civil war and the US has remained a decades-long ally of Taiwan since then. Taiwan returned to the forefront of US-China tensions last weekend when Beijing sent more than two dozen warplanes into the self-governing island’s air defence identification zone in a 48-hour period.

Meanwhile, Taipei has expressed gratitude to the US for its commitment of “rock-solid support” against China’s coercion after the United States expressed plans to strengthen ties with Taiwan under President Joe Biden’s administration.

“We sincerely thank US State Department for its rock-solid support of democratic of Taiwan in the face of Beijing’s ongoing coercion. Based on shared values and interests, we are committed to our partnership with the United States in furthering peace and stability in the Indo Pacific,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Taiwan said in a tweet.