The spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lin Jian, said at a press conference that the “Asia-Pacific region should be a zone of peaceful development” and “not a stage for geopolitical confrontations”, remembering that Taiwan “is part of of China” and is an “internal matter” of the Asian country
Lin reacted in this way to statements by the head of the United States Indo-Pacific Command, Admiral John Aquilino, who declared, on Wednesday, that he believes that the Chinese Army will be ready to invade Taiwan in 2027 and that the Chinese Armed Forces have been simulating for years operations once morest the island, including sea and air blockades.
The Chinese diplomatic spokesman warned that the “determination, will and capacity of the Chinese people” to “defend their national sovereignty and territorial integrity” should not “be underestimated”.
Lin also condemned attempts by certain sectors in the US to “promote the Chinese threat theory” and “increase tension” in the Taiwan Strait.
Taiwan – where the Chinese nationalist Kuomintang army retreated following being defeated by communist troops in the civil war – has been governed autonomously since 1949, although China claims sovereignty over the island, which it considers its own province. “reunification” does not exclude the use of force.
The Taiwan issue is one of the main points of friction between Beijing and Washington, as the United States is Taipei’s main arms supplier and has committed to defending the island in the event of a conflict.
