According to media reports, the Chinese Ministry of Defense held a regular press conference in the afternoon of Jan. 28, and Senior Colonel Wu Qian, director of the Ministry of Defense Information Bureau and spokesman for the Ministry of Defense, said that “we are telling those Taiwan separatists” elements that those who play with fire will burn themselves, and that independence of Taiwan means war”.
Compared to its previous reiterations of “making no promise to renounce the use of force” against Taiwan, this is probably the bluntest warning so far from the Chinese government to Taiwan’s independence forces, which has somewhat shocked overseas media.
The warning comes after new US President Joe Biden reaffirmed his commitment to Taiwan and set out his stance in Asia. And after China stepped up its military activities and flew warplanes near the island.
Nevertheless, this warning from China’s Defense Ministry was based on a request from China’s President Xi Jinping not long ago.
In his speech at a conference commemorating the 70th Anniversary of War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea on Oct. 23, 2020, Xi Jinping made it clear that “the Chinese people know very well that when dealing with aggressors, they have to talk to them in a language they understand, which is to stop the war with war, stop the war with arms, and win peace and respect with victories.”
In a previous symposium on public opinion work, Xi also called for “accelerating the international influence of Chinese discourse, so that the world can listen to and hear the voice of China”.
Some Chinese experts believe the United States had wanted to lure mainland China into a war against Taiwan at the end of the Trump administration, in order to help regain its voice and leadership over the world.
Last July, former Chinese Navy Rear Admiral Zhang Zhaozhong argued that with the U.S. military’s continued provocations against China, China and the U.S. were on the brink of war, with “the chances of war soaring by 90 percent”.
