In a loud and clear message to the United States, China has said that its ambition to unify with Taiwan will not be stopped by ‘any force or any country’.
According to a Newsweek report, Zhao Lijian, a government spokesperson of China, warned US President Joe Biden against any contact or interaction with Taiwan.
“China’s complete unification is an unstoppable historical trend that cannot be changed by any person, any force or any country. We urge the United States to take seriously China’s position and concerns, be cautious with its words and deeds on Taiwan-related issues, stop military contacts with Taiwan, stop developing substantial relations with Taiwan, and stop sending wrong signals to Taiwan independence forces,” Zhao said at a Foreign Ministry press conference in Beijing on Monday, December 20.
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Taiwan, which is democratically governed, is claimed by China as its own territory. As a result, Beijing has gradually increased military and diplomatic pressure on the island in the last two years to enforce its sovereignty claims.
The dominant narrative in Taiwan is against China and its military advances, but the Chinese government has stood its ground, paying no heed to the former’s sentiments. On the other hand, the US has stated in no clear terms whether it will intervene on Taiwan’s behalf, but it has consistently warned China against the use of force.
The White House‘s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, had said last week, “The whole purpose of American policy towards Taiwan and towards cross-strait relations is fundamentally designed to ensure that we never face a circumstance in which we need to directly answer the question that you posed.”
The question being referred to here was asked by Richard Haass, President of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), on whether the US had any intention of intervening to defend Taiwan.
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Sullivan added that it would continue to speak for Taiwan Strait if China attempted to threaten or subvert the former’s stability. “Because we believe that there is a formula that works to maintain the status quo, to not have unilateral changes to that status quo. That is what the Biden administration is pursuing. We think that is well understood by our partners and should be well understood in Beijing,” he said.
Taiwan, on the other hand, had reiterated earlier this year that it will do whatever it takes to defend itself. President Tsai Ing-wen had said that the island is a ‘functionally independent state called the Republic of China’, and that there is no need to declare otherwise, reported Newsweek.