China on Thursday warned Taiwan in sharp terms. “Independence means war,” stressed a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Defense, who also reiterated that the Communist People’s Republic sees the island as Chinese territory.
The warning comes at a sensitive time. Taiwan reported maneuvers by Chinese fighter planes and bombers near the island last weekend. That sparked concern in the United States, where new president Joe Biden has just taken office.
The Chinese ministry called the flights a response to “foreign interference and provocations by the forces pushing for independence in Taiwan.” The spokesman also said the Chinese military will take all necessary measures to quell a “separatist plot”. He expressed the hope that the US will avoid confrontation.
Taiwan has been effectively an independent country since the mid-twentieth century. After losing the Chinese Civil War to the Communists, nationalists fled from mainland China to the island of Taiwan in the late 1940s, where they established their own state. It is called the ‘Republic of China’.
– .
