Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

The Central Military Commission (CMC) and Ministry of National Defense have blasted the US for its recent wrongful actions regarding China's Taiwan region and urged it to stop sending wrong signals to "Taiwan independence" forces, a few days before the scheduled inauguration of Taiwan regional leader-elect Lai Ching-te. 

Experts noted that it sent a clear signal, reminding the US not to indulge "Taiwan independence," nor to create tension and crisis in China-US relations.

The Office for International Military Cooperation of CMC told the US Assistant Secretary of Defense in a video call on Thursday that the military collusion between the US and China's Taiwan region, as well as the separatist acts of the "Taiwan independence" forces, are the main sources of disruption to the current stability in the Taiwan Straits. The Chinese military is resolutely determined to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The defense ministry on Friday also slammed the recent wrongful actions and provocations conducted by the US and Taiwan authorities. In response to the guided-missile destroyer USS Halsey recently sailing through the Taiwan Straits and trespassing into the territorial seas of China's Xisha Islands, Zhang Xiaogang, spokesperson for the defense ministry, said that in the current cross-Straits situation, deliberate provocations by the US pose a threat to China's sovereignty and security, send wrong signals to the "Taiwan independence" separatist forces and damage regional peace and stability.

"The US' wrongdoings are not conducive to maintaining the momentum of stabilization of China-US state-to-state and mil-to-mil relations and preventing their further deterioration. The Chinese People's Liberation Army will stay on high alert, take resolute countermeasures against any infringement and provocations, and firmly safeguard our national sovereignty and territorial integrity," Zhang said.

Additionally, the DPP authorities are reportedly seeking to increase the number of its so-called military attachés at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Honolulu from four to 10 to increase coordination and intelligence sharing with US Indo-Pacific Command.

Zhang blasted the DPP's actions, saying they are doomed to fail. The US should fully realize the extreme sensitivity of the Taiwan question, stop any form of official interactions and military contact with China's Taiwan region and stop sending wrong signals to the "Taiwan independence" separatist forces, and deliver on its commitment of not supporting "Taiwan independence," Zhang said.

"China will take resolute and decisive countermeasures against any 'Taiwan independence' separatist activities and foreign connivance and support," the spokesperson noted.

Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Friday that it sent a clear signal to the US, reminding the country not to play with fire on the Taiwan question, given that adhering to the one-China principle is a key prerequisite for the stability of China-US relations.

China is urging the US to honor its word, Li said, noting that recent US provocative actions against China's Taiwan region have been very frequent, showing once again the US' hypocrisy and double-standards.

These remarks have a strong warning effect, especially before the inauguration of the Taiwan regional leader-elect, reminding the US not to be a protector of "Taiwan independence" forces, and not to create tension and crisis in China-US relations, Li said. 

"Our signal is very clear, and given the frequent provocations by the US on the Taiwan question, China needs to urgently point it out to the US," he said. However, he warned that the nature of the US' unbridled hegemony in matters concerning China's sovereignty is unlikely to be easily shifted.