The head of Taiwan’s security department, Chen Mingtong, recently said that inspired by the Russian-Ukrainian war, if mainland China launches a war against Taiwan, “it’s just as well that they don’t attack us, but if they do, they will definitely attack in a comprehensive manner”.
The former head of Taiwan’s defense department, Yang Nianzu, also recently said that if there is a war between the two sides of the strait, “the first battle will be the final battle”, and the PLA can completely end the battle in a day or two, the PLA may abandon the surrounding islands and go straight to Taiwan’s main island.
In this regard, mainland China’s Taiwan Affairs Office responded on March 30, Beijing time.
Zhu Fenglian, a spokesman for mainland China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said, “We have repeatedly stressed that we are patient and willing to do our utmost with the utmost sincerity to strive for the prospect of peaceful reunification. At the same time, we will never tolerate ‘Taiwan independence’ and will take decisive measures if ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces dare to provoke and force their way through, or even break through the red line.”
According to a recent Taiwan island poll, more than half of the Taiwanese people are unwilling to go to war if the two sides of the Taiwan Strait go to war, with the proportion of 20- to 29-year-olds unwilling to go to war as high as 70 percent. There are also many public opinions that Taiwan’s DPP authorities should not provoke a confrontation with mainland China and should create a peaceful and stable cross-strait atmosphere through exchanges and dialogues for the benefit of the people.
In this regard, Zhu Fenglian said, “Taiwan is a part of China, compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are Chinese and are a family whose blood is thicker than water. Promoting the peaceful development of cross-strait relations is the common desire of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. The realization of the peaceful reunification of the motherland is a common vision of mutual benefit and win-win for compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. But when the tree wants to be quiet, the wind does not stop. The DPP authorities, in collusion with external forces, are inciting ‘anti-China and China-hating’ populism, escalating cross-strait confrontation, seeking ‘independence’ provocations by any means, and seeking to change the fact that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to same China, seriously undermining the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, seriously threatening Taiwan Strait peace and stability, and seriously damaging the common interests of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and the fundamental interests of the Chinese nation.”
Zhu Fenglian stressed, “For a long time, the DPP authorities have relied on weaving lies to deceive the people on the island. They think they have won, but a lie is a lie after all, and cannot deceive the majority of the Taiwanese people, including the youth of Taiwan. More and more Taiwan compatriots have come to realize that ‘Taiwan independence’ means war and that ‘Taiwan independence’ is the greatest threat to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. Being held hostage to act as cannon fodder for the DPP authorities to seek ‘independence’ and do pro-independence runs counter to the common voice of Taiwan compatriots who want peace, development and a better life. I advise the DPP authorities to stop driving backward in history, and that cross-strait relations can be improved and developed as long as they return to the right track of the political basis of the ‘1992 Consensus’ and stop seeking ‘independence’ provocations.”
