China Warns Taiwan 'Independence Means War,' Ramps up Military Presence Around Island

[TR_123456]

The Chinese defense ministry has come out with some of Beijing's bluntest language yet on Taiwan, warning Taipei on Thursday that "independence means war."

The remarks by Ministry of National Defense spokesperson Wu Qian came after China ramped up its military presence in the Taiwan Strait over the weekend, flying a total of 28 Chinese warplanes—including heavy bombers—into the southwestern corner of Taiwan's air defense identification zone.

One warplane was sent into the ADIZ on Monday and there have been four incursions on each of the past three days, according to Taiwan's defense ministry. The ministry in Taipei declined to comment on Wu's remarks.

People's Liberation Army exercises in the Taiwan Strait were a "solemn response to external interference and provocations by Taiwan independence forces," said Wu. Taiwan is an "inalienable part of China's territory" and an "internal issue," he told reporters at a monthly press conference.

"National unification," Wu added, "is an irreversible trend." He likened "Taiwan independence" supporters to "bubbles" in a river.

"We warn Taiwan independence elements: those who play with fire will be burned. Taiwan independence means war."

The unusually large military presence near the island on Saturday and Sunday coincided with the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt's "freedom of the seas" operation in the contested South China Sea. China accused Washington of "muscle flexing" and charged Taipei with seeking independence with the help of "external forces"—a phrase generally associated with the United States.

The Taiwanese government rejects Beijing's charges. President Tsai Ing-wen has previously said her administration has no plans to declare independence formally, as Taiwan is already a functionally independent country.

Wu did not address the Biden administration's recent pronouncements in support of Taiwan in his press briefing, but called for a reset of relations between Beijing and Washington.

The defence ministry spokesperson said U.S.-China relations had experienced "grave difficulties" under former President Donald Trump, and the militaries of the two countries faced "risks and challenges."

This proved that efforts to contain China would be "mission impossible," he added, describing the task as "picking up a stone and dropping it on one's own foot."

Wu revealed that military leaders from the U.S. and China had met by teleconference on Tuesday and Wednesday in order to discuss the tracing of American servicemen's remains from previous wars in the region.

Military relations between the nations were at a "new historical starting point," he said, adding that he hoped the Biden administration would "properly handle" China's concerns in the spirit of professionalism."

China Warns Taiwan 'Independence Means War,' Ramps up Military Presence

The Chinese defense ministry also called on President Joe Biden to reset U.S.-China relations after "grave difficulties" under the Trump administration.

www.newsweek.com

 

[Jackdaws]

Xi reminds me of a poor man's Hitler. He wants to open multiple fronts to assert China. Except his bluff will be called.

 

[guest12]

Good.

 

[Huelague]

Taiwan is part of China. They are Chinese people living their.

 

[Huelague]

Of course, West/USA try to weaken China by separate Taiwan from China.

 

[Ryder]

The Chinese Civil War has not ended it was just dormant for decades.

Both China and Taiwan are gearing up to end it for good.

I really wonder who will win. Taiwan is the underdog.

 

[Ryder]

Of course, West/USA try to weaken China by separate Taiwan from China.

Taiwan has been separate since 1949 the Chinese civil war has not ended.

 

[xizhimen]

Mainland China and Taiwan deeper relationship is much deeper and comlicated than it appears, Taiwan was the main driving force to help mainland China to embark the economic take off in the 1980's and 1990's when Taiwan's foreign reserve being the biggest in the world.

From 1991 to July 2015, approved outward investment from Taiwan in China amounted to USD 150 billion, which equates to 61.2 per cent of Taiwan's total approved outward investment.

So many people from Taiwan work and study in mainland China, the economy across the Taiwan strait had been long integrated, almost all Taiwan entertainers have their base in mainland China.
So much is at stake, wars won't happen, rhetorics from both sides are just for domestic consumption.

 

[Yasar_TR]

My understanding of Chinese demographic structure is such that , although at the moment there is a very strong central government in power, there are at least a dozen or more nations within China, each with a population between 50Million and 120million speaking different languages, belonging to different ancestral histories with quite a bit of past animosity between them. In fact there are more than hundred different languages spoken within China.
Xinjiang, Tibet and Mongolia are big in square km but small in population. USA will in time use the dividing card to break up China within, whence the Central Government’s hold on these people start to weaken. Just name a few; Cantonese, Hakka, Min, Wu, Sichuan, Webei, Shandong.
I see current disturbances in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Tibet as distractions from a bigger plan.

 

[Jackdaws]

Taiwan is part of China. They are Chinese people living their.

Au contraire. Taiwan is not even a legal name. The name is Republic of China. The other entity is Peoples Republic of China. They both claim to be representatives of all of China including land occupied by the other.

 

[xizhimen]

My understanding of Chinese demographic structure is such that , although at the moment there is a very strong central government in power, there are at least a dozen or more nations within China, each with a population between 50Million and 120million speaking different languages, belonging to different ancestral histories with quite a bit of past animosity between them. In fact there are more than hundred different languages spoken within China.
Xinjiang, Tibet and Mongolia are big in square km but small in population. USA will in time use the dividing card to break up China within, whence the Central Government’s hold on these people start to weaken. Just name a few; Cantonese, Hakka, Min, Wu, Sichuan, Webei, Shandong.
I see current disturbances in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Tibet as distractions from a bigger plan.

China has many local dialects, but we are all Chinese, people from Guangdong feel no less Han Chinese than people from Beijing. Han Chinese account for 93% of China's whole population, so, strictly speaking, China, just like other East Asian countries, is almost a single nation state.