A senior Chinese general lashed out at United States Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin on Saturday (Jun 3), accusing him of “seriously distorting the facts and truth” of Taiwan’s status.
At the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Lieutenant-General Jing Jianfeng, vice chief of the Central Military Commission’s Joint Staff Department, said Austin had tried to “pull out of Beijing’s one-China principle”.
“The US’ comments on Taiwan ignore the facts, distort the truth and are completely wrong,” Jing said on the conference’s sidelines.
“First, there’s only one China in the world, and Taiwan is a sacred and inalienable part of Chinese territory.
“Second, the one-China principle represents the consensus of the international community.
“Third, it is the common aspiration and sacred responsibility of all Chinese people, including our Taiwan compatriots, to complete the reunification of the motherland.”
Jing accused the US of hollowing out the one-China principle – which is not US policy – by strengthening exchanges between US and Taiwanese officials, condoning Taiwanese separatist activities and selling more and more capable weapons to Taiwan.
“It has frequently transited through the Taiwan Strait to flex muscles and induced other countries to interfere in the Taiwan question.”
Source: CNA
