A senior Chinese Communist Party official warned Tuesday that a “red line” on Beijing’s “core interest” of Taiwan must not be crossed, as the self-governing island democracy is set to hold its presidential election this weekend.
Liu Jianchao, minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China’s Central Committee, issued the warning, at a time when Washington, Seoul and Tokyo have shown their alignment on the importance of stability across the Taiwan Strait.
China regards Taiwan as part of its territory and hopes to achieve reunification with the self-ruled island, while the United States opposes any unilateral change to the status quo.
“Having engaged with each other for such a long time, both China and the United States know too well each other’s core interests and red lines that can never be crossed,” Liu said at a forum hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington.
“For China, the Taiwan question is at the very core of the core interests. It is the red line that mustn
‘t be crossed,” he added.
The official also said that Beijing takes “seriously” the statements of the United States not supporting Taiwan’s independence.
“We hope that the U.S. side will honor this commitment,” he said, adding that the U.S. and China should expand “mutually beneficial” cooperation that “brings benefits to our two peoples and adds certainty to our relationship.”
In addition, Liu stressed that the unification of China has been the “dream of the Chinese people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.”
“So I think that this is the firm, clear and strong policy of the Chinese government and the strong aspiration of the Chinese people,” he said.
On the Taiwan issue, Seoul, Washington and Tokyo have underscored their alignment.
In a joint statement following the inaugural meeting of their Indo-Pacific Dialogue in Washington last week, the three sides reaffirmed the “importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as indispensable to security and prosperity in the international community.
”
Source: Yonhap News Agency
