General Zhang Youxia, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, makes a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the 10th Beijing Xiangshan Forum held in Beijing on October 30, 2023. Photo: Leng Shumei/GT

The Chinese military will never tolerate and will be relentless against anyone who dares to split Taiwan from China in any way, General Zhang Youxia, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), said on Monday.

Zhang made the remarks in a keynote speech delivered at the opening ceremony of the 10th Beijing Xiangshan Forum, which is being held from Sunday to Tuesday in Beijing.

Taiwan is the core element of China's core interests, and the one-China principle is a universal consensus among the international community, Zhang said.

China advocates the ideas of respecting each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity, respecting each other's core interests and key concerns, respecting the development path and social system independently chosen by each country's people, and valuing and giving consideration to other countries' reasonable concerns on security and peace, Zhang said.

One cannot build up one's own security based on the insecurity of others, or even intentionally provoke another country on major, sensitive issues, said the senior Chinese military leader.

Lieutenant General He Lei, former vice president of the Academy of Military Sciences of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), told the Global Times at the forum on Monday that Zhang's remarks again explained China's firm principle and position on its core interests of national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity, particularly the Taiwan question.

The CMC vice chairman made clear the Chinese armed forces' sacred duty of resolutely defending the country's core interests and its responsibilities in safeguarding the peace and stability of the world, He Lei said.

In recent years, the secessionist Democratic Progressive Party authorities on the island of Taiwan have been increasingly colluding with external forces including the US in attempts to seek "independence," making provocations including wrong statements, "official" exchanges and arms transfers, observers said.

Zhang Weiwei, director of the China Institute at Fudan University, told the Global Times at the forum on Monday that despite repeated US provocations, China is now confident it will eventually resolve the Taiwan question, and the conditions are gradually becoming mature as China accelerates the process of national reunification at its own pace.

People should look beyond the Western rhetoric, because the West is just a small part of the world, and the Global South represents the biggest market, the largest resources and the greatest development chances, Zhang Weiwei said. "It is the US that is isolating itself."

There you can see that it is very important that the majority of countries recognize the one-China principle, and respect and support China's right to realize reunification, Zhang Weiwei said.

During the Beijing Xiangshan Forum's Symposium on Sun Tzu's Art of War held on Sunday, He Lei noted that China is the only permanent member of the UN Security Council that has not achieved complete national reunification.

Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's sacred territory, and China must and will be unified, which is a common aspiration of all Chinese people, including those in Taiwan, the essence of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and an unstoppable historical trend that no force can obstruct, He Lei said.

"If the Chinese government is forced to use force to resolve the Taiwan question, it will be a war for reunification that has the commanding heights of both moral principle and the law, a just and legitimate war supported and participated in by the Chinese people, and a war to crush foreign interference," He Lei noted.

He Lei said that in this war, the PLA will live up to the expectations and trust of the Party and the people, fight bravely under a unified command, and with the least casualties, minimal losses, and lowest cost, and it will be the final great victory in the Chinese people's War of Liberation that will see the complete reunification of the motherland.

He Lei emphasized that the responsibility for provoking this war lies entirely with the Taiwan authorities, "Taiwan independence" secessionist forces, and external interfering forces.