by Xinghui Kok and Fanny Potkin
The prospect of a peaceful “reunification” with Taiwan is increasingly “weakened” by separatists and external forces, Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun said on Sunday.
China considers Taiwan a renegade province and has never ruled out using force to bring the island back into its fold. Beijing, which takes a dim view of the electoral victory of pro-independence Lai Ching-te as president of Taiwan, organized military maneuvers around the island last month.
Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue, an international security conference in Singapore, Dong Jun said Taiwan represents “the most critical issue” for China, but that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is gradually seeking separatism and worked to erase Chinese identity.
“These separatists have recently made fanatical statements that represent a betrayal of the Chinese nation and their ancestors. They will be pilloried in history,” he said.
Dong Jun accused foreign powers of interfering in an “internal matter” and “encouraging Taiwan separatists.”
He added that although China is committed to peaceful reunification with Taiwan, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) “will stand firm to uphold national reunification.”
“We will take firm measures to curb Taiwan’s independence and ensure that such a plot never comes to fruition,” Dong Jun said. “We are very confident in our ability to deter Taiwan’s independence.”
The United States has regularly provoked China’s ire by showing its support for Taiwan, notably by selling arms to Taipei.
Dong Jun said such sales tested Beijing’s “red lines.”
“They sell a lot of weapons to Taiwan. This kind of behavior sends very bad signals to the (pro-independence) forces in Taiwan and makes them become very aggressive. I think it’s obvious that the real goal of the foreign powers is to use Taiwan to control China,” he said.
(With contributions from Liz Lee in Beijing and Ben Blanchard in Taipei; French version Camille Raynaud)
