Stop being reckless, Taiwan told
Military warns separatists of action against secession attempts
BEIJING: The Defence Ministry has warned Taiwan separatists that their secession efforts are “dead ends” and the Chinese military will take further action if they continue their “reckless activities”.
Senior Colonel Wu Qian, a ministry spokesman, made the remarks at a news conference following flights by multiple fighter jets, H6K bombers and early warning airplanes of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force around the island of Taiwan yesterday morning.
The training was aimed at improving the planes’ combat readiness and actual fighting capabilities above water, Senior Colonel Shen Jinke, a spokesman for the PLA Air Force, said on Thursday.
“The treasure island is within the motherland’s embrace and protect ing our country’s beloved territory is a sacred duty of the Air Force,” Shen said, adding that the Air Force had deployed many planes to fly around the island since April 18.
In response to media questions about the flights, Wu said the training exercises were aimed at improving the Air Force’s ability to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
“Secession activities by Taiwan separatists are the biggest threat to crossStraits relations,” he said.
“These activities undermine the fundamental interests of the Taiwan people, and our actions are targeting those separatists and their activities,” Wu said.
“If the Taiwan separatists continue their reckless activities, we’ll take further action against them.”
When asked to comment about Taiwan’s military drills this month, Wu said the mainland would make sincere efforts to pursue peaceful unification.
“But I must stress that Taiwan secession efforts are a dead end,” he said, adding: “There is no way out for Taiwan to confront the mainland militarily to resist unification.”
Senior Colonel Ma Gang, a professor from the PLA National Defence University, said Taiwan unification was a key part of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and efforts to split the island from China “go against the trend of history and the wishes of the Chinese people”.
“No country will allow its territorial integrity to be violated by separatists and foreign powers,” he said.
“The Taiwan separatists have become more arrogant recently. The Chinese mainland has exercised utmost sincerity and restraint, but its patience is not limitless.
“If the secession efforts grow indefinitely, the PLA has no choice but to unify Taiwan through force as stated in the AntiSecession Law.”
Meanwhile, Wu confirmed that the DF26, China’s new intermediaterange ballistic missile, had entered service in the PLA Rocket Force and the Su35 fighter jets China bought from Russia had entered service for the PLA Air Force.
The missile is designed by China and is capable of rapid retaliation with nuclear warheads and mid to longrange precision strikes using conventional warheads against land targets and large naval ships.