China slams U.S.' National Defense Authorization Act containing negative content related to Taiwan

In response to the U.S. signing into law of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025, which contains negative content related to Taiwan, Chen Binhua, a spokesperson for the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office, said at a regular press conference on Wednesday that Taiwan is China's Taiwan, and that the Taiwan question is purely China's internal affairs that will not tolerate any external interference.

Chen stated that the U.S. side insisted on inserting negative content related to Taiwan into the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025 in an attempt to further arm Taiwan and add fuel to the fire in the Taiwan Straits, which grossly interferes in China's internal affairs, seriously violates the one-China principle and the provisions of the three China-U.S. joint communiqués, sends a seriously wrong signal to the "Taiwan independence" separatist forces, and causes serious damage to the peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits. We express our strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition to this, he noted.

We urge the U.S. to earnestly abide by the solemn political commitments it made to China on the Taiwan question, to reflect its statement of not supporting "Taiwan independence" in concrete actions, and to immediately stop arming Taiwan. We warn the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities that no matter how they collude with external forces or buy more U.S. weapons, they cannot stop the historical trend of China's reunification. If they dare to take risks, they will surely bring about their own destruction, the spokesperson said.

Xu Dong, spokesperson for the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National People's Congress, also responded to the U.S. signing the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025 on Wednesday.

He said that the negative provisions related to China in this Act continue to hype the "China threat," incite military support for the island of Taiwan, suppress China's technological and economic development, restrict China-U.S. economic and trade exchanges as well as cultural interactions, and grossly interfere in China's internal affairs, undermining China's sovereignty, security, and development interests. China expresses strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition to this, he emphasized.

It is inevitable that China and the U.S., two major countries, have some differences and disagreements, but they should not undermine each other's core interests, still less engage in conflict and confrontation. Issues such as the Taiwan question, democracy and human rights, governance systems, and development rights are red lines for China that cannot be challenged. We strongly urge the U.S. to abandon Cold War mentality and ideological biases, refrain from implementing the negative provisions related to China, and avoid making further mistakes on issues concerning China's sovereignty and core interests, Xu said.