Washington should realize its interference in Taiwan question is a recipe it won't want to eat: China Daily editorial

The People's Liberation Army's "Justice Mission 2025" drills around Taiwan, which commenced on Monday, are a legitimate and necessary action to safeguard China's sovereignty and territorial integrity as they issue a stern warning to "Taiwan independence" separatist forces against soliciting external interference in the Taiwan question.

Any despicable act of crossing the red line or making provocations on the Taiwan question will surely be resolutely retaliated against by China, and any attempt to thwart China's endeavor for reunification is doomed to failure, as Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian stressed on Monday.

Organized by the PLA Eastern Theater Command, the drills involve coordinated deployments of its different services across the Taiwan Strait and in waters and airspace to the north, southwest, southeast and east of China's Taiwan island, demonstrating the PLA's integrated joint combat capability and its readiness to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The ongoing drills are part of Beijing's broader response to the United States' arms sales to the secessionist-minded Lai Ching-te authorities on the island. The US' latest record-breaking $11.1 billion arms sales to the Democratic Progressive Party authorities further expose the contradiction in the US' stated position. While the US administration claims that it does not support "Taiwan independence" and professes adherence to a one-China policy, it continues to provide large quantities of advanced weapons — including systems with clear offensive characteristics — to the Lai authorities.

This behavior constitutes a serious violation of the one-China principle and gravely undermines the three Sino-US joint communiques. It is a blatant interference in China's internal affairs and an open challenge to China's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The implications of such substantial arms sales are severe and far-reaching. The US administration is not "maintaining a balance", as it claims, but actively emboldening "Taiwan independence" separatist forces to take increasingly reckless actions. Such moves heighten tensions in the Taiwan Strait, transform the region into a potential flashpoint, and undermine peace in the Asia-Pacific.

The "Justice Mission 2025" drills focus on sea-air combat readiness patrols, joint seizure of comprehensive superiority, blockades of key ports and areas, and all-dimensional deterrence beyond the island chain. Major live-fire exercises are scheduled to continue, covering multiple designated areas, further underscoring the seriousness of the warning.

The PLA will undoubtedly continue to enhance its training and combat readiness so that it is ready to take "forceful measures" when necessary to resolutely counter "Taiwan independence" separatist activities and external interference.

The necessity for these PLA drills is indisputable and fully justified by the US move. By conducting them, China is exercising its legitimate right under international law to defend its national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity. No sovereign state would tolerate persistent attempts to split its territory.

Although the US administration sustains a de facto strategic ambiguity on the Taiwan question in its 2025 National Security Strategy, it must be pointed out that by increasing its interference in the Taiwan question, with the latest arms sales to the island being a proof, it is strengthening the binding of the island to its geostrategic chariot to serve its "Indo-Pacific" strategy. In doing so the US is hollowing out the one-China policy that it claims to uphold.

Every US arms sale to Taiwan only strengthens the resolve of the Chinese people to achieve national reunification. And each sale compels the PLA to further improve its readiness and deterrence capabilities, pushing "Taiwan independence" separatist forces closer to a dead end of their own making.

The reunification of China is an unstoppable historical trend. Any fanciful belief that reliance on external military support can resist this trend is both dangerous and delusional. By gambling on US arms and external backing, Taiwan's separatist forces are lining the pockets of foreign arms dealers and showing they are willing to sacrifice the safety and well-being of Taiwan residents to serve their own narrow political agenda. Such a path can only lead to their own inevitable self-destruction.

Washington should realize that destabilizing the Taiwan Strait and the wider Asia-Pacific serves neither the US' interests nor those of its allies. It should genuinely honor its commitment not to support "Taiwan independence", halt its arms sales to Taiwan and cease testing Beijing's firm resolve to defend China's core interests.