China reiterates threat to annex Taiwan by force

The statement by the Cabinet Office for Taiwan Affairs and its press division comes after nearly a week of missile launches and the intrusion of Chinese warships and air force planes into Taiwan’s waters and airspace.

The actions disrupted flights and shipping in a region critical to global supply chains, prompting a backlash from the United States, Japan and others.

The English-language version of China’s statement said Beijing would “do its utmost to achieve peaceful reunification with the utmost sincerity”. “But we will not renounce the use of force and we reserve the option of taking all necessary measures. This is to prevent external interference and all divisive activities,” the statement said.

“We will stand ready to respond by force or other necessary means to the interference of external forces or the radical actions of separatists. Our ultimate goal is to secure the prospect of China’s peaceful reunification and advance the process,” it said.

China said the threatening moves were sparked by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan last week, but Taiwan said the visit was routine and that China was only using it as a pretext for its threats.

In a separate response to Pelosi’s visit, China said it was cutting off dialogue with the United States, Taiwan’s main military and political backer, on issues such as maritime security and climate change.

Taiwan’s foreign minister warned on Tuesday that China’s military exercises reflected ambitions to control large swathes of the western Pacific, while Taipei conducted its own exercises to underscore its readiness for self-defense.

Beijing’s strategy will include controlling the East and South China Seas through the Taiwan Strait and imposing a blockade to prevent the United States and its allies from providing aid in the event of an attack on Taiwan, Joseph Wu told a news conference in Taipei.

Beijing has extended ongoing drills but has not announced when they will end.

Taiwan was divided from the mainland in a civil war in 1949, and the island’s 23 million people overwhelmingly opposed political unification with China, while preferring to maintain close economic ties and a de facto independent status quo.

Through its exercises, China has moved closer to the Taiwanese border and may be seeking to establish a new normal that could eventually control access to the island’s ports and airspace.

The United States, Taipei’s main backer, has also shown a willingness to face the Chinese threat. Washington has no formal diplomatic relations with Beijing but is legally obligated to ensure Taiwan can defend itself and treats all threats against it as a matter of serious concern.

That leaves the question of whether Washington will send troops if China attacks Taiwan. U.S. President Joe Biden has repeatedly said the U.S. will definitely do so — but staff quickly retracted those comments.

In addition to geopolitical risks, a protracted crisis in the Taiwan Strait, an important channel for global trade, could have major implications for international supply chains at a time when the world is already facing disruption and uncertainty on a global scale. coronavirus Pandemic and war Ukraine.

In particular, Taiwan is an important supplier of computer chips to the global economy, including China’s high-tech sector.

In response to the exercise, Taiwan has placed its forces on alert, but has so far taken no active countermeasures.
Its troops held live-fire artillery drills in Pingtung County on the southeastern coast on Tuesday.