Mainland warns Taiwan separatists, external forces

The Chinese mainland will never leave any room for Taiwan separatist activities and will resolutely thwart any external forces' interference to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, a spokeswoman said on Friday.

Zhu Fenglian, spokeswoman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, made the remarks as Taiwan leader Lai Ching-te was concluding on Friday his first overseas trip since taking office in May, visiting three Pacific Island countries.

The tour included visits to the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu, and Palau, with "stopovers" in the United States territories of Hawaii and Guam. On Wednesday, he had a phone conversation with US House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Zhu said that this once again proved that the so-called transit was just an excuse, and in reality, it was a political ploy by the Democratic Progressive Party authorities to rely on the US for "independence" and for the US to use Taiwan to contain the mainland.

She urged the US to abide by the one-China principle and the provisions of the three Sino-US joint communiques, cease official exchanges with Taiwan, and take concrete actions to fulfill its solemn commitment not to support "Taiwan independence".

She also warned the DPP authorities that seeking "independence" through force are dead ends and are destined to fail.

Zou Zhiqiang, deputy secretary-general of the Alliance for China's Peaceful Reunification based in the US, said that Lai has always emphasized so-called peace and stability, but it is fundamentally deceptive.

Condemning Lai's "transit" in the US, Zou said, "He often uses fancy rhetoric such as 'democracy' and 'freedom' to boast about his achievements, deceiving the people of Taiwan and the international community."