China warns US it won’t tolerate ‘Taiwan independence’

Beijing, Mar 17 (EFE).- China’s defense ministry spokesman said the country’s army would defend its national sovereignty and territorial integrity including any attempt from Taiwan to seek independence.

In a press conference, Tan Kefei accused the authorities of the Democratic Progressive Party, which governs Taiwan, of colluding with external forces to seek the secession of the island and be on the opposite side of the fundamental interests of Taiwan.

He blamed the United States for causing tensions in the straits with its acts of interference and its support for the party, the state news agency Xinhua reported.

Tan said it is justifiable for the army to carry out military operations in response to these threats and warned Washington against interfering or improving its relations with the island.

“Taiwan is China and the Taiwan issue is a purely Chinese internal affair and the core of China’s vital interests,” Tan said.

The spokesman urged the US to give up its attempt to use Taiwan to contain China and cease its “salami tactics,” which consist of gradually increasing its pressure on Beijing.

Tan said China firmly opposes any form of official exchanges or military contact between the United States and Taiwan.

Relations between Beijing and Taipei deteriorated in the summer after the visit to the island of then-US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which raised tension in the strait to unprecedented highs.

Taiwan, with whom the US country does not maintain official relations, is one of the main reasons for conflict between Beijing and Washington, mainly because the Americans are the main supplier of arms to Taiwan and would be their greatest military ally in the event of a war.

Beijing claims sovereignty over the island, which has been governed autonomously since Kuomintang nationalists withdrew there in 1949 after losing the war against the communist army. EFE

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