Chen Binhua, a spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office

In response to a media inquiry about the Chinese mainland's defense budget increasing by 7.2 percent this year, while Taiwan's "mainland affairs council" claimed it hoped the mainland would exercise "rational restraint" and refrain from "military provocations," Chen Binhua, a spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said on Wednesday that the DPP authorities continuously hype up the so-called military threat from the mainland while currying favor with external forces that exploit Taiwan. It is self-evident who is truly undermining cross-Straits peace and fueling tensions in the Taiwan Straits.

Chen said that the mainland's annual defense budget is formulated in accordance with laws. The mainland's defense spending is transparent, reasonable and moderate - driven solely by the need to safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests, as well as to uphold world peace.

Meanwhile, the DPP authorities persist in "seeking independence by relying on foreign support" and "pursuing independence by military means," yet turn a blind eye to the voices within the island calling for improved livelihoods and peace. It is self-evident who is truly undermining cross-Straits peace and fueling tensions in the Taiwan Straits, Chen said. 

Chen said that the DPP authorities deliberately exaggerate tensions and incite cross-Straits confrontation as a means to divert attention from mounting domestic criticism over their reckless actions, including their bottomless concessions to external forces and their willingness to pay so-called "protection fees." 

No matter how much the DPP authorities try to distort reality or shift the narrative, they cannot change their essence of serving US interests at Taiwan's expense nor conceal their weakness. "Taiwan independence" is a dead end, and reunification is inevitable. No matter how much the DPP authorities increase their military budget or how much "protection money" they paid, it cannot alter the reality that "armed resistance against reunification is a road to dead end." Nor can it stop the historical trend of national reunification, said Chen. 

Chen also refuted the nominee for US undersecretary of defense for policy Elbridge Colby's recent claim on that Taiwan's "military budget" should be closer to 10 percent of its GDP. Chen said that the Taiwan question is purely an internal affair of China and brooks no foreign interference.

We firmly oppose any form of military ties between the US and Taiwan island and demand that the US strictly adhere to the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiqués. The US must stop arming Taiwan and cease encouraging "Taiwan independence" forces in their attempts to seek independence through military means, said Chen. 

"We also sternly warn the DPP authorities those who willingly serve as pawns of external forces will ultimately be abandoned as discarded pieces," said Chen.