At the March 25 Taiwan Affairs Office press conference, a reporter asked: Recently, a U.S. intelligence community assessment concluded that China does not currently plan to “use force to attack Taiwan” by 2027, and is more inclined to use non-military options to achieve unification, while at the same time continuing to strengthen the PLA’s preparations for the use of force and viewing unification as an important condition for achieving national rejuvenation by 2049. What is your comment on this?
Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Zhu Fenglian responded that Taiwan is China’s Taiwan. Resolving the Taiwan issue is a matter for the Chinese people themselves and does not permit any external interference. She said the U.S. side should abide by the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiqués, and act cautiously in both word and deed on the Taiwan issue.
Zhu said that “peaceful reunification, one country, two systems” is the basic policy for resolving the Taiwan issue, and that resolving the Taiwan issue and completing national reunification are inevitable requirements for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. She said they are willing to create broad space for peaceful reunification and, with the utmost sincerity and greatest effort, strive for the prospect of peaceful reunification. At the same time, she said, they will never allow national sovereignty and territorial integrity to be damaged, will never promise to renounce the use of force, and reserve the option of taking all necessary measures.
Zhu added that the root cause of the current complex and severe situation in the Taiwan Strait is that the DPP authorities, in collusion with external forces, continue to engage in provocations aimed at seeking “independence.” She said this will never be tolerated or condoned, and that they have the firm will, full confidence, and sufficient capability to thwart any form of “Taiwan independence” separatist plot, safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and unswervingly advance the great cause of national reunification.