Chinese defense minister reiterates China's resolute position on Taiwan question

Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe has reiterated China's resolute position on the Taiwan question.

Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory, and the one-China principle is the political foundation of China-U.S. relations. The scheme to use Taiwan-related issues to contain China is doomed to fail, said Wei, during his meeting with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin Friday on the sidelines of the 19th Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.

During the meeting, Wei said a new round of arms sales to Taiwan announced by the U.S. side recently severely violated the one-China principle and the stipulations of the three China-U.S. joint communiques, undermined China's national sovereignty and security interests and caused severe damage to China-U.S. relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, according to Wu Qian, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense.

Noting that China firmly opposes and strongly condemns the arms sales, Wei stressed that if anyone dares to split Taiwan from China, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) will have no choice but fight at any cost and crush any attempt of "Taiwan independence" and safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, said Wu during a press briefing after the meeting.

In another briefing following Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's keynote speech on Friday evening, He Lei, former deputy head of the Academy of Military Sciences, said that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's sacred territory, and that the Taiwan question concerns China's core interests and is China's internal and own affairs.

The government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government of China. China will and must be unified. The PLA has the determination, confidence, capability and means to realize China's complete reunification of the motherland. "Taiwan independence" is doomed to fail, said He during the briefing.

"Taiwan independence" will lead nowhere and is thus doomed to fail. Supporting "Taiwan independence" will never come to a good end, said He.

"The development of China strengthens the force of peace in the world and the development of China's military capability reinforces the strength of safeguarding national interests and world peace," he said.