Defense spokesperson admonishes plots to split China

The intention of the Democratic Progressive Party, the ruling party in Taiwan, of increasing the island's military power to resist the historic trend of unification will bring nothing but catastrophe to Taiwan's people, a Defense Ministry spokesman said on Thursday.

Senior Colonel Tan Kefei said at a news conference in Beijing the DPP has been relying on false narratives about "democracy, freedom and the mainland's threat" to deceive the people and misguide the international community for their political interests.

"Politicians in the DPP are always 'generous' when they use Taiwan people's security as a wager. They want to depend on military power to pursue 'Taiwan independence' and split the motherland. These plots are doomed to fail and will only bring catastrophe to people on the island. Such obstacles must be eliminated in our efforts to strive for peaceful unification," he said.

"Taiwan independence" is on a road to ruin and the right path leads to national unification, the officer said, noting the People's Liberation Army is always on alert to safeguard China's sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity.

Responding to a request for comment on the United States' annual National Defense Authorization Act that may include strengthening defense ties with Taiwan, Tan said the US has been recently producing Taiwan-related policies and acts that compromise China's sovereignty and some terms are intended to enhance military relations between the US and Taiwan and to boost the so-called self-defense capability of Taiwan.

Such actions have seriously interfered in China's internal affairs and severely jeopardized the one-China principle and related clauses in the three China-US joint communiques, and have gravely contradicted the US' political commitment to China on the Taiwan question.

"Taiwan belongs to China. Solving the Taiwan question is our own business. We demand the US stop playing with fire on the Taiwan question," the spokesman said.