China’s ambassador to the United States issued a warning Thursday: The U.S. could face “military conflict” with China over the future status of Taiwan.
In his first one-on-one interview since assuming his post in Washington, D.C., last July, Qin Gang accused Taiwan of “walking down the road toward independence,” and added, “If the Taiwanese authorities, emboldened by the United States, keep going down the road for independence, it most likely will involve China and the United States, the two big countries, in a military conflict.”
It was an unusually direct statement about the U.S. and Taiwan. Observers say China usually speaks in more general terms, such as saying that the U.S. is “playing with fire.” Though American eyes may be focused thousands of miles away toward a threatened war in Ukraine,
U.S. officials and analysts have voiced increasing concern about Taiwan’s ability to defend itself. “The Taiwan issue is the biggest tinderbox between China and the United States,” Qin Gang told the US public broadcaster National Public Radio (NPR), on Friday.
“If the Taiwanese authorities, emboldened by the United States, keep going down the road for independence, it most likely will involve China and the United States, the two big countries, in the military conflict.” Tensions over the island’s place in the world continue to grow. Beijing considers Taiwan to be a breakaway province of China.
In November the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, told Joe Biden that any support for Taiwanese independence from the US would be “like playing with fire” and that “those who play with fire will get burned”. Beijing has been ratcheting up its pressure on the democratically ruled island in recent years.
In October Xi vowed to realize “reunification” with Taiwan by peaceful means. But on Sunday China’s air force flew 39 warplanes into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone – the largest daily number since October.
