China has warned Taiwan that any moves towards independence would result in war.
The warning by the Chinese minister of defence comes after a Chinese flight of nuclear-armed bombers into Taiwanese airspace, adding to growing tensions between China and Taiwan’s ally, the United States.
Chinese defense minister Wu Qian said on Thursday: ‘We are seriously telling those Taiwan independence forces: those who play with fire will burn themselves, and Taiwan independence means war.’
The dispute between China and Taiwan dates back to the Chinese civil war when the Communists captured the mainland, forcing the Nationalist government to retreat to Taiwan. Both governments claim to be the official government of all China, but there are growing calls in Taiwan to declare the island an independent country, a move which China sees as an act of unlawful secession.
The US has called China’s latest warning ‘unfortunate’, saying that tensions did not need to lead to ‘anything like confrontation’.
[Picture: Vernon Raineil Cenzon on Unsplash]