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China warns of war in case of move toward Taiwan independence
BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s defense ministry warned on Wednesday that it was ready for war if there was a move toward Taiwan’s independence, accusing the United States of undermining global stability and denouncing its arms sales to the self-ruled island.
This month, the Pentagon said the U.S. State Department had approved sales of weapons requested by Taiwan, including tanks and Stinger missiles estimated to be worth about $2.2 billion.
China responded by saying it would impose sanctions on U.S. firms involved in such a deal.
China would make its greatest effort for peaceful reunification, defense ministry spokesman Wu Qian said.
“However, we must firmly point out that seeking Taiwan independence is a dead end,” Wu told a news briefing on a national defense white paper, the first in several years to outline the military’s strategic concerns.
“If there are people who dare to try to split Taiwan from the country, China’s military will be ready to go to war to firmly safeguard national sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity,” he said.
The United States is the main arms supplier to Taiwan, which China deems a wayward province. Beijing has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control.
Washington has no formal ties with democratic Taiwan, but is bound by law to help provide it with the means to defend itself.
The Chinese defense document said the United States had “provoked intensified competition among major countries, significantly increased its defense expenditure … and undermined global strategic stability.”
China’s defense spending would maintain moderate and steady growth, but it was relatively low, compared to other major countries, it added.
“There is still a wide gap between China’s defense expenditure and the requirements for safeguarding national sovereignty, security, and development interests,” it said.
Reports of a secret pact with Cambodia granting China’s armed forces exclusive access to part of the southeast Asian nation’s Ream Naval Base on the Gulf of Thailand were not in accordance with the facts, Wu added.
“China and Cambodia have in the past carried out positive exchanges and cooperation on military drills, personnel training and logistics,” he said. “This kind of cooperation does not target any third party.”
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-taiwan-usa/china-warns-of-war-in-case-of-move-toward-taiwan-independence-idUSKCN1UJ07O
>[CHINA-CHINA-CHINA]
‘Pro-China’ Boris Johnson ‘enthusiastic’ about belt and road plan
Britain’s next prime minister welcomes Chinese investment and students to ‘most open economy in Europe’
Boris Johnson, Britain’s prime minister-designate, said his government would be very “pro-China”, in an interview with a Hong Kong-based Chinese-language broadcaster shortly before he was chosen to succeed Theresa May on Tuesday.
Speaking to Phoenix TV, Johnson backed Chinese President Xi Jinping’s infrastructure-based Belt and Road Initiative and said his government would maintain an open market for Chinese investors in Britain.
“We are very enthusiastic about the Belt and Road Initiative. We are very interested in what President Xi is doing [for the plan],” he said.
The Brexit campaigner also vowed to keep Britain as “the most open economy in Europe” for Chinese investments. “Don’t forget [we are] the most open international investment [destination], particularly [for] Chinese investment. We have Chinese companies coming in to do Hinkley, for instance, the big nuclear power plant.”
Johnson also stressed that Britain was the first Western country to join the Chinese-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), a move that angered its major ally, the US.
Britain became a founder-member of the AIIB – the first Asia-based international bank to be independent from the Western-dominated World Bank and International Monetary Fund – with a US$50 million contribution to its special project fund in 2015.
The interview did not touch on whether a Johnson government would restrict access to Chinese telecoms giant Huawei. The British government delayed a decision on Monday on whether to restrict or ban Huawei, over national security concerns.
Jeremy Wright, Britain’s culture secretary, said it would not be “sensible, helpful or responsible” to make a final decision about Huawei’s involvement in the country’s 5G network while the US position was still unclear, according to The Guardian newspaper.
British telecom firms, including Vodafone and BT, have already launched 5G services using some Huawei equipment in noncore parts of their networks where there is no security risk.
In the interview, Johnson said Britain welcomed Chinese students. “We are very lucky because we have coming to the UK not only lots of goods manufactured in China, we have 155,000 Chinese students in the country which is wonderful for us.
“They make a massive contribution to Britain and to our society. [There are] more Chinese students in London than any city in the world outside China,” he said.
“My daughter was in China not very long ago, learning Chinese,” he said, which is “very important, [and] very difficult.”
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3019884/pro-china-boris-johnson-enthusiastic-about-belt-and-road-plan