BEIJING: A Chinese military spokesperson condemned the United States for sending a warship and an oceanographic survey ship through the Taiwan Straits recently, saying its acts sent wrong signals and increased security risks.
Senior Colonel Li Xi, spokesperson for the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), made the remarks on Wednesday.
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson and the Pathfinder-class survey ship USNS Bowditch sailed through the Taiwan Straits from February 10 to 12.
The Eastern Theater Command of the PLA organized naval and air forces to track and monitor the ships in the whole course and effectively responded to and dealt with them, Li said.
Li added that the troops of the PLA Eastern Theater Command remain on high alert at all times to resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and security as well as regional peace and stability.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry and the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office responded to the same issue on Wednesday.
Noting that Taiwan is an inalienable part of the Chinese territory, Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said the Taiwan question is not about freedom of navigation but about China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
China resolutely opposes any country’s provocations and threats to China’s sovereignty and security in the name of freedom of navigation, said Guo.
Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said the Taiwan question concerns China’s core interests.
“We resolutely oppose and will never allow any foreign interference,” Zhu said, adding that China has the firm will, full confidence and sufficient ability to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
She urged the U.S. side to abide by the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiques, handle Taiwan-related questions with extra prudence and stop sending any wrong signal to “Taiwan independence” forces.
