SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Chinese Foreign Minister Chen Gang said on Friday that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to China and that it is right and proper for China to uphold its sovereignty.
Chen made the remarks at the Lanting Forum in Shanghai, where he discussed a wide range of topics from debt, the global economy, and Taiwan.
“Recently, ridiculous statements were made accusing China of upending the status quo and disrupting peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” Chen said. “The logic is absurd and the conclusion dangerous.”
“Fair people can see who engages in dominant bullying and good practices,” he added.
“It’s not the Chinese mainland, but the separatist forces of Taiwan independence and a handful of countries trying to shake up the status quo,” Chen said. “Those who play with fire in Taiwan will eventually burn.”
China recently conducted military exercises around the self-ruled island after Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen returned to Taipei after meeting in Los Angeles with US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Beijing views democratically-ruled Taiwan as its own territory, a claim the government in Taipei vehemently rejects, and routinely condemns high-level meetings between Taiwanese and foreign leaders and officials.
(Reporting by Casey Hall; Writing by Bernard Orr; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Jerry Doyle)
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