China vows to ‘forcefully counter’ provocations and US arms sales as military drills encircle Taiwan

BEIJING: Beijing must “firmly oppose” provocations and large-scale US arms sales to Taiwan, China’s top diplomat said on Tuesday (Dec 30), as China launched live-firing drills around the island this week.

“The Taiwan issue is China’s internal affair and lies at the core of China’s interests,” said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who was speaking at an annual international relations symposium in Beijing.

“Faced with provocations by Taiwan independence forces and large-scale US arms sales to Taiwan, we must of course firmly oppose and forcefully counter them,” Wang said.

Marking what he called “the 80th anniversary of Taiwan’s return to the motherland”, Wang said achieving reunification and safeguarding China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity were obligations Beijing “must fulfil”.

“Any attempt to resist this historical trend will end in failure,” he added.

Beijing claims the island as its territory and has not ruled out the use of force to bring it under its control. Taiwan rejects China’s claimed sovereignty, maintaining that only its people can decide the island’s ‌future.

Wang’s comments come as China launched live-firing drills around the island this week – deploying new amphibious assault ships alongside bomber aircraft and warships.

The war games began 11 days after the United States announced a record $11.1 billion arms ‍package to Taiwan, and after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested in November that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger a military response from Tokyo.

Beijing called it a response to “external interference” and separatist activity while Taiwan’s defence ministry said the drills involved Chinese naval and air forces operating in multiple zones surrounding the island and raising tensions across the Taiwan Strait.

The US, Taiwan’s most important international backer, is bound by law to provide the island with defensive weapons, a policy China strongly opposes.