At Moscow security meeting, China’s defense chief vows Taiwan reunification

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – Pushing back what he called “containing China,” Beijing’s Defense Minister Li Shangfu has said reunification of Taiwan with the mainland was “inevitable.”

“Taiwan question is an internal Chinese affair prohibiting external interference, with the reunification of China inevitable,” Li told the 11th Moscow Conference on International Security on Tuesday.

The Chinese defense chief flew to Russia to attend the annual forum, from where he traveled to Belarus for an official visit, beginning Tuesday.

“Playing with fire on the Taiwan question and attempts to ‘contain China with Taiwan’ are doomed to fail,” Li said, according to China’s Defense Ministry.

China considers Taiwan as its “breakaway province” while Taipei has insisted on its independence since 1949.

Reiterating Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Global Security Initiative, Li said it advocates “common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security.”

“It promotes a new security path featuring dialogue over confrontation, partnership over alliance, and win-win over zero-sum,” he added.

“Chinese military is a staunch force for world peace. We are willing to continue to strengthen mutual trust in military and security strategies and practical cooperation in various professional fields with the militaries of various countries, jointly build a security cooperation platform, and make new and greater contributions to maintain global security,” Li said.

On the sidelines of the conference, Li held a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Shoygu and the heads of defense departments and armed forces of Iran, Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan, Vietnam, and other countries, the ministry statement added.