Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun delivered an address emphasizing the Communist Party’s resolve to destroy Taiwanese sovereignty.
Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun delivered his first high-profile public address in months on Thursday, emphasizing the Communist Party’s resolve to destroy Taiwanese sovereignty.
Speaking at the Xiangshan Forum in Beijing – a platform for the Chinese government to expand its military influence which describes itself as promoting “equality, openness, inclusiveness, and mutual learning” – Dong repeated the false claim that “Taiwan is part of China.” In reality, Taiwan is a sovereign, democratic state operating its own government, military, education, health care, and other institutions wholly independent of the Communist Party. No government headquartered in Beijing has ever governed Taiwan.
“The historical and legal facts that Taiwan is part of China are beyond doubt, and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is always ready to defeat any external interference by force,” Dong declared, according to the Chinese state propaganda newspaper Global Times.
“The return of Taiwan to China is an integral part of the post-war international order,” Dong reportedly continued. “We will never allow any ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist schemes to succeed, and we are always ready to defeat any external interference by force.”
Beijing refers to the government of Taiwan as a “separatist scheme.”
Dong’s remarks on Taiwan are among the most aggressive from the highest ranks of the Chinese government in years, though Beijing’s state media arms and lower-ranking officials regularly threaten to invade the country. In recent memory, China’s rhetorical belligerence peaked against its neighbor in 2019, when genocidal dictator Xi Jinping delivered remarks in which he promised that anyone recognizing the sovereignty of Taiwan, or supporting the anti-communist protests in Hong Kong at the time, would have their “bones ground to powder.”
“Anyone who attempts to split any region from China will perish, with their bodies smashed and bones ground to powder,” Xi said at the time. “Any external forces that support the splitting of China can only be regarded as delusional by the Chinese people.
