China’s ambassador to Australia, Xiao Cheng, told a room full of journalists that Beijing would use whatever force it needed to bring Taiwan under its control.
The comments were made during an address to the National Press Club on August 10, when an Australian journalist put pressure on representatives of the Chinese regime over current tensions in the Taiwan Strait.
When asked about the possibility of China invading Taiwan, Xiao told reporters that although the use of force was the last thing Beijing wanted, it “never ruled out the option of using other means. I can’t,’ he said.
“Therefore, when necessary and unavoidable, we are prepared to take any necessary measures. ”
Taiwanese undergo “re-education”
Furthermore, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ambassador also said it was his personal understanding that if the invasion were successful, the citizens would be “re-educated”.
“There may be a process for Taiwanese people to understand China correctly,” he said.
The comment from the ambassador is the same as what Lu Shaye, the Chinese ambassador to France, told French media on August 7. international association If Beijing took over Taiwan, 23 million residents would be re-educated, a situation similar to that faced by Uyghurs in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.
Beijing seeks to justify aggression in Taiwan Strait
Xiao also said the issue was a domestic one, declaring Taiwan not an independent state. He made a comment in relation to his 1943. Cairo Declaration.
The Cairo Declaration was an agreement between US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Chinese President Chiang Kai-shek, and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in Cairo, Egypt during the Pacific War of World War II. Recognizing China as an ally, they agreed to return the territories Japan had seized from China, including Manchuria, Taiwan, and the Pescadores, to return to the control of the Republic of China after the conflict ended.
Xiao’s comments were based on the Chinese regime’s launch of live-fire military exercises in the waters surrounding Taiwan on Aug. 4 in apparent retaliation for US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-California) visit to the democratic island. issued on occasion.
Beijing has also declared six no-go zones surrounding the island for war games. Fighters and ships crossed the strait’s center line.
In response, Taiwan’s defense ministry called the military exercises “highly provocative” and deployed aircraft, naval vessels and land-based missile systems to monitor the situation.
“We will not seek escalation or antagonize others,” Taiwan’s defense ministry said. Said He added on Twitter that the military is dedicated to defending the autonomous islands.
The military exercises are the largest ever held by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the military wing of the Communist Party of China, with 11 ballistic missiles fired so far, according to Reuters.
Five of the missiles are said to have landed. Japanese An exclusive economic zone extending up to 200 nautical miles from the national coast.
The PLA also deployed 22 Chinese fighter planes. crossed Central line of the Taiwan Strait. An unmanned aerial vehicle drone was also launched, and he flew over the Kinmen Islands, 1.3 miles from the Chinese coastline, forcing the Taiwanese military to fire warning flares to dislodge at least four aircraft.
According to the announcement, three drones flew over waters near Taiwan’s east coast (pdf) from the Ministry of Defense of Japan.
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Victoria Kelly-Clark is an Australia-based reporter focusing on the national politics and geopolitical environment in the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East and Central Asia.