BEIJING, Feb. 29 -- Seeking independence by force will lead nowhere. It will only push Taiwan towards an extremely dangerous situation of war, said a Chinese defense spokesperson at a regular press conference on Thursday.
Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang, spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense, made the remarks when asked to remark on the DPP authorities' purchase of US weapons.
According to media report, Taiwan will spend NT$ 13.37 billion from its multi-year budget to purchase 500 "Stinger" air defense missiles. When meeting with personnel from the US Hudson Institute, Lai Ching-te claimed that the US government continued to promote the normalization of arms sales to Taiwan, allowing the island to enhance its self defense capabilities, and Taiwan would bolster its asymmetric warfare capabilities.
"First I want to point out that no matter how many weapons the DPP buys with the hard-earned money of the taxpayers in Taiwan, it can never change the basic fact that Taiwan is China's Taiwan, let alone stopping the overwhelming trend towards national reunification," said Spokesperson Zhang.
He pointed out that, the US side has repeatedly violated the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiqués, especially the August 17th Communiqué, and violated its political commitment to China on the Taiwan question by continuing its arms sales to Taiwan and strengthening military collusion with Taiwan. These acts have seriously undermined China's sovereignty and security, emboldened the "Taiwan independence" separatist forces, and harmed peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
"The Chinese PLA will take all necessary measures to resolutely smash any 'Taiwan independence' separatist plot, and firmly safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait," stressed the spokesperson.
