BEIJING, Mar. 15 -- A Chinese defense spokesperson sternly warned that those who connive at and support "Taiwan independence" separatist forces will get burned for playing with fire and taste the bitter fruit of their own doing, at a regular press briefing on Friday.
Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense, made the remarks in response to the media query on the US military assistance to Taiwan. According to reports, the US government put forward a standalone request for Taiwan military assistance for the first time in its Budget for Fiscal Year 2025, which authorized to tap the US stockpiles to assist Taiwan in strengthening the so-called "deterrence". In addition, advisors from the US Special Forces Green Berets have been sent to Taiwan for long-term stationing to train Taiwan's amphibious special operations force.
"Taiwan is China's Taiwan. The Taiwan question is at the very core of China's core interests, and the first red line that must not be crossed in China-US relations," said the spokesperson, adding that the US side recently obscured, distorted and hollowed out the one-China principle through military aid and arms sales to Taiwan, and sending personnel to assist Taiwan in training its troops. These moves sent a seriously wrong signal to the "Taiwan independence" separatist forces and severely undermined peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
The spokesperson urged the US side to immediately end any form of official exchanges and military contact with Taiwan, stop arming Taiwan, and fulfill its commitment of not supporting "Taiwan independence" with concrete actions. "The Chinese PLA will stay on high alert, firmly safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity and resolutely smash 'Taiwan independence' separatist activities and external interfering attempts," stressed the spokesperson.