Will not tolerate any activities aimed to split China, Beijing hits back at Biden’s Taiwan remarks

Beijing: China on Monday said it will strive with “utmost sincerity” for the peaceful reunification of Taiwan and not tolerate any activities aimed at splitting the country, in an angry response to President Joe Biden’s remarks that the US forces would defend Taiwan if Beijing tries to invade the self-ruled island.
Biden said “yes” when asked during an interview broadcast on Sunday on CBS News’s “60 Minutes” programme whether “US forces, US men and women, would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion.” The White House has been quick to downplay Biden’s previous comments on Taiwan, reiterating that the US policy hasn’t changed.
This is the second time since May this year that Biden has replied affirmatively to questions on the US militarily intervening to defend Taiwan’s independence, adding a military dimension to Washington’s Taiwan policy much to the chagrin of Beijing.
While visiting Japan in May, Biden said America will stand with Japan and other nations to not let China forcibly take over Taiwan.
When asked at a press conference in Tokyo if the US is willing to get involved militarily to defend Taiwan, Biden said “yes”.
“That is the commitment we made. Here is the situation: we agree with the One China policy. We signed on to it and all the attendant agreements made from there.
“But the idea that it can be taken by force is just not appropriate, it will dislocate the entire region and be another action similar to what happened in Ukraine. So, it is a burden that is even stronger,” he said, likening Taiwan’s issue to that of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Reacting to Biden’s interview with CBS News, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning on Monday said the US leader’s remarks seriously violated the ‘one China’ policy and three joint communiques related to Taiwan.
Biden’s remarks seriously breached the US commitment of not supporting Taiwan’s independence and sent an erroneous signal to Taiwan’s independence forces, Mao said.
“China deplores and firmly opposes that and we have launched several representations to the US,” she said.
“There is only one China and Taiwan is part of it and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) government is the sole government representing the entire China,” Mao said.
To achieve the complete unification of the motherland is the shared aspiration and sacred duty of all Chinese people, she said.
“We will strive for the prospect of a peaceful reunification with utmost sincerity and efforts. In the meantime, we will not tolerate any activities that are aimed to split China and we reserve all options of taking the necessary measures,” Mao said.
—PTI

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