“The Day a US Warship Docks in Kaohsiung is the Day the PLA Liberates Taiwan:” Ambassador
Chinese Ambassador to the USA, Minister Li Kexin, has told US lawmakers that proposed visits by US warships to Taiwan would violate the anti-secession law of China, and that the date of the first US warship’s arrival in Kaohsiung Harbor is the day China liberates Taiwan by force.
Li told an audience of Chinese students and expatriates invited to a lecture in Washington DC, December 8, that he had made China’s position clear to US legislators after the US Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act 2018, which included provisions calling for a study of the feasibility of docking US warships at the port of Kaohsiung.
Li stated that the request seriously violates the spirit of the communique on the establishment of diplomatic relations signed between the United States and China.
The ambassador said he told US lawmakers that when the US sends its warships to Taiwan, the anti-secession law will be implemented, and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army will unify Taiwan with the mainland.
Li stressed that this is not a joke. “China has a strong will, full confidence, and sufficient capability to achieve peaceful re-unification”, he said. “This is China’s biggest goal…this is not a bluff.”
Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Responds
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a response to the threats today, December 9, in a three point statement.
In the first point, MOFA thanked US lawmakers for taking legislative action to strengthen Taiwan-US cooperation on security issues. The second point reiterated the present government of Taiwan’s commitment to promoting the peaceful and steady development of cross-strait relations through dialogue. And the third point stated that Chinese officials’ frequent use of intimidation hurts the people on both sides of the strait, and is not conducive to the positive development of cross-strait relations.
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