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The Chinese military warned that ‘Taiwan independence’ means war and said it was ready to take resolute actions to thwart foreign interference in support of “separatist activities in the estranged island.
China’s reunification is an irreversible trend of history and the People’s Liberation Army is ready to take resolute actions to counter any “Taiwan independence, Chinese military spokesperson Sr. Col. Wu Qian told the media in Beijing.
Wu was reacting to a question on Taiwan’s new leader Lai Ching-te’s pro-independence speech during his swearing-in as the island’s new President on May 20.
Lai, 64, also known as William Lai, who succeeded his independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party colleague Tsai Ing-wen after winning the popular vote in the January Presidential election this year, was sworn in as the president at a ceremony held in Taipei on Monday.
China views Taiwan as a rebel province that must be reunified with the mainland, even by force.
Lai’s DPP party does not seek independence from China but maintains that Taiwan is already a sovereign nation.
In his no-holds-barred inaugural speech, Lai called on China to stop threatening the island, promised to uphold the status quo in the Taiwan Strait, and called on Beijing to work jointly for peace.
