NEW DELHI, Feb 23: Even while supporting Russia during the on-going Ukraine crisis, China has dismissed any comparison between the situations in Ukraine and Taiwan which it maintained was always an “inalienable” part of China.
Dismissing any comparison, China on Wednesday said Taiwan was “not Ukraine” and it has always been an “inalienable” part of the mainland. “Taiwan is not Ukraine. Taiwan has always been an inalienable part of China. This is an indisputable legal and historical fact,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Hua Chunying, said on Wednesday.
The issue of Taiwan is one left over from the civil war but China’s integrity should never have been compromised and never has been compromised, Hua added.
Earlier in the day, referring to China, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said “external forces” were “attempting to manipulate the situation in Ukraine and affect the morale in Taiwan’s society” and urged the government to be “more vigilant against cognitive warfare.” In response, Hua said any comparison between Ukraine and Taiwan showed a lack of the most basic understanding of the history of the Taiwan issue.
Beijing claims sovereignty over self-ruled and democratic Taiwan and has never ruled out the use of force, if required, to unify it. All security and military units “must raise their surveillance and early warning of military developments around the Taiwan Strait,” media reported quoting Tsai as telling a meeting of the working group on the Ukraine crisis set up by her National Security Council.
Tsai said Taiwan and Ukraine are fundamentally different in terms of geostrategy, geography and international supply chains. “But in the face of foreign forces intending to manipulate the situation in Ukraine and affect the morale of Taiwanese society, all government units must strengthen the prevention of cognitive warfare launched by foreign forces and local collaborators,” the report said.
Separately, speaking on the tension over Ukraine, Hua said those accusing China of contradicting its stance on respecting national sovereignty and territorial integrity in relation to Russia’s moves towards Ukraine were “either driven by ulterior motives or deliberately distorting or misinterpreting China”.
“To correctly and objectively understand the Ukraine situation and seek a rational and peaceful solution, it is necessary to understand the merits of the Ukraine issue and properly address relevant countries’ legitimate security concerns on the basis of equality and mutual respect,” Hua said.
(Manas Dasgupta)