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Thursday, March 28, 2024

‘Dangerous consequences if China vilified over Taiwan’

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Criticizing China over Taiwan will have dangerous consequences, Foreign Minister Qin Gang warned Friday, as he insisted Beijing is a “growing force for peace and justice.”

Two weeks ago, China launched three days of military exercises around Taiwan—simulating targeted strikes and a blockade of the island—in response to a meeting between Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

“Recently, there has been some absurd rhetoric accusing China… of unilaterally changing the status quo across the Taiwan Strait, through force or coercion, and of disrupting peace and stability across the Strait,” Qin said as he gave the keynote speech at a forum on Chinese modernization.

“Such claims go against basic common sense on international relations and historical justice,” he told the audience in Shanghai.

“The logic is absurd and the consequences dangerous.”

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China claims Taiwan as its territory and has vowed to bring the island under its control one day.

“The Taiwan question is the core of the core interests of China,” Qin continued.

“We will never back down in face of any act that undermines China’s sovereignty and security. Those who play with fire on Taiwan will eventually get themselves burned.”

Qin will visit the Philippines later, a week after the largest-ever joint US-Philippines military exercises in the South China Sea, another area of territorial dispute for Beijing.

China is hoping that the visit of its state councilor and foreign minister Qin will improve the communication between the two countries.

Wang Wenbin, spokesman for Qin, said Beijing expects that the Chinese official’s visit to Manila between April 21 to 23 would result in increased engagements between the two countries and “mutual trust.”

In his regular media briefing on Friday, Wang also said China hopes to “properly handle differences, deepen cooperation” and maintain the momentum of the bilateral ties between the two countries.

Qin’s visit will come as the Philippines, under the Marcosadministration, starts pivoting its diplomatic priorities to the West, in stark contrast to the Duterte administration.

Relations have taken a turn, too, after Chinese Ambassador HuangXilian warned the Philippines not to interfere in Taiwan if it “truly cares” about the 150,000 overseas Filipino workers there.

Lawmakers and government officials have criticized what they see as aveiled threat from the Chinese envoy.

China is trying to keep warm its relations with Manila amid its aggressive activities in the West Philippine Sea, which may have pushed the Philippines to seek support from the US.

Qin is scheduled to meet President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

The remarks on Taiwan at the Shanghai conference came towards the endof a speech in which Qin repeatedly emphasized China’s peaceful intentions.

“We have the best record in abiding by the purposes and principles ofthe UN charter, international law, and the basic norms of international relations,” he said—even though Beijing has refused to recognize the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling favoring the Philippines in its dispute with China over the West Philippine Sea.

Pointing out China’s role in helping to bring about a recent reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Iran, he also reiterated Beijing’s positioning of itself as a mediator in the Ukraine war.

“China is not adding fuel to the fire or taking advantage of thesituation,” he said, adding it was pushing peace talks to de-escalate the crisis instead.

Other speakers at the Lanting Forum included Brazil’s former president Dilma Rousseff and The Gambia’s Foreign Minister Mamadou Tangara.

“China has put forward a different path to modernization,” said Rousseff.

She emphasized that there was no “one size fits all” model fordevelopment, a message echoed repeatedly throughout the forum’s opening ceremony.

Earlier this week, Vietnam criticized China for imposing an annual banon fishing in a vast area of the South China Sea, calling it a violation of its sovereignty and urging Beijing not to complicate matters.

China has imposed the ban each year since 1999 and Vietnam routinely opposes it. China says the ban, which will apply from May 1 to Aug.

16, is to promote sustainable fishing and improve marine ecology.

It covers waters 12 degrees north of the equator and includes parts of Vietnam’s 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) as well as the Paracel islands, which the two countries have both occupied and have contested for decades. With AFP

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