As US-Taiwan strengthen ties, China warns 'Taiwan's independence' means war

As the United States and Taiwan strengthen their ties, China has threatened that "Taiwan's independence" means war.

Wu Qian, spokesperson of China's Ministry of National Defence, on January 28 "warned" the people wanting "Taiwan independence" and said that "those who play with fire will set themselves on fire, and seeking 'Taiwan independence' means nothing but war".

According to an article by The Global Times, a Chinese state media, Taiwan's "mainland affairs council" has warned that any of the mainland's words and deeds that deliberately provoke Taiwan's bottom line may cause far-reaching effects that the mainland cannot bear.

It further said, "We urge Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to give up their performance of pretending to be fearless. They are dividing the country and will eventually be eliminated by force if they don't stop before it's too late."

This comes a week after a US aircraft carrier strike group led by the USS Theodore Roosevelt entered the South China Sea to promote "freedom of the seas".

Earlier, China had passed a law giving power to its coastguard to fire on foreign vessels and demolish structures built in disputed waters, South China Morning Post reported.

China's top legislative body, the National People's Congress Standing Committee, on Friday passed the coastguard law that empowers the coastguard to use "all necessary means" to deter threats posed by foreign vessels in waters "under China's jurisdiction". It will also allow the coastguards to launch pre-emptive strikes without prior warning if commanders deem it necessary.

Taiwan and the Taiwan Strait region is a source of a tussle between the US and China owing to Washington's support of Taiwan.

Taiwan had split from mainland China in the wake of civil war and the US has remained a decades-long ally of Taiwan since then.

Taiwan returned to the forefront of US-China tensions last weekend when Beijing sent more than two dozen warplanes into the self-governing island's air defence identification zone in a 48-hour period.

While the frequency of such drills has increased in recent years, the timing and the composition of the latest formations -- mostly fighter jets and bombers -- appeared intended to send a message to the new administration in Washington, reported CNN.

Meanwhile, Taipei has expressed gratitude to the US for its commitment of "rock-solid support" against China's coercion after the United States expressed plans to strengthen ties with Taiwan under President Joe Biden's administration.

"We sincerely thank US State Department for its rock-solid support of democratic of Taiwan in the face of Beijing's ongoing coercion. Based on shared values and interests, we are committed to our partnership with the United States in furthering peace and stability in the Indo Pacific," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Taiwan said in a tweet amid Beijing's growing belligerence.

According to a report by CNN, US President Joe Biden's China policy would be shaped on three key issues in the Pacific Ocean, viz - South China Sea, Taiwan, and Taiwan Strait and Japan and a system of alliances and partners.

( With inputs from ANI )