BEIJING, Jan. 25 -- "The elections of the Taiwan region belong to the affairs of a region in China. No matter how the situation changes in Taiwan, the basic fact that there is only one China in the world and Taiwan is a part of China will not change", said Chinese Defense Spokesperson Senior Colonel Wu Qian at a regular press conference on January 25, 2024.
It's reported that Taiwan's "foreign affairs department" said that the comments made by the Chinese mainland concerning the elections in Taiwan were not consistent with international understanding and the status quo of the cross-Strait relations and called on the Chinese mainland to respect the result.
When commenting on the above remarks, Defense Spokesperson Senior Colonel Wu Qian noted that the outcome of the two elections of the Taiwan region shows that the DPP does not represent the mainstream public opinion in Taiwan. "The prevailing consensus of the international community on the one-China principle will not change, and the historical trend towards China's reunification will not change," said the spokesperson.
Then he pointed out that about 80 years ago, China, the US and the UK issued the Cairo Declaration which stipulates that "all the territories Japan has stolen from China, such as Taiwan, shall be restored to China." Article 8 of the 1945 Potsdam Proclamation jointly declared by China, the US, the UK and the Soviet Union says clearly that the terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out. In 1971, the 26th UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 2758 which clarifies that there is only one China in the world and no "two China" or "one China, one Taiwan". These international instruments are legally binding and provide historical and jurisprudential basis for the fact that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory.
The spokesperson also stressed that the sovereignty and territory of China has never been severed and the legal status and fact that Taiwan is a part of China's territory have never changed. This is the real status quo.
"Taiwan will never be a country. 'Taiwan independence' and the attempts by foreign forces to split China will never succeed. China's reunification requires Taiwan's return. The Chinese PLA will speak with actions and always be an iron great wall defending national sovereignty and territorial integrity", reiterated the spokesperson.
