Island a pawn the U.S. will ultimately abandon

Taiwan is a pawn of the United States and will ultimately be abandoned, a Chinese mainland spokeswoman and pro-reunification groups in Taiwan said after U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump demanded that Taiwan pay more for its "defense".

Taiwan should pay the U.S. for its "defense" as it does not give his country anything, Trump told Bloomberg Businessweek in a recent interview.

The Trump team has recently discussed the Taiwan question multiple times. There are also members of his team reportedly talking about demanding that Taiwan increase its defense spending to 5 percent of its GDP.

The topic aroused heated discussions on the island. Taiwan's pro-reunification political parties and groups said in a joint statement recently that U.S. elections should not interfere in the question of China's reunification, which is China's internal affair.

Trump's remarks are actually naked hegemonic interference and extortion, they said.

"Clearly, the U.S. military-industrial complex and political groups are calculating for their next four-year term in the arms business," they said. "This is completely contrary to the people's demands for improving their livelihoods and increasing social welfare, and harms the common homeland of the Chinese people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait."

Zhu Fenglian, a spokeswoman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said on Wednesday in Beijing that the people in Taiwan see very clearly that the U.S. always prioritizes so-called U.S. interests and Taiwan will not be an exception.

Zhu said that the DPP authorities on the island willingly act as a "pawn" and stubbornly "rely on the U.S. to seek independence". And the "pawn" will ultimately become a "discarded piece".

"The Democratic Progressive Party authorities have no principles, no bottom line and cater to external forces, walking on a treacherous path of selling out and harming Taiwan, pushing Taiwan into a dangerous situation and bringing great harm to the people of Taiwan," she said.

It has been reported by Taiwan media that many temples in Taiwan have been asked to sign agreements to store ammunition, causing panic and questioning.

Zhu responded that more Taiwan people strongly oppose and are dissatisfied with the DPP authorities for hyping up the "mainland threat" and squandering Taiwan people's hard-earned money to buy weapons from the U.S..