China on alert after EU calls for naval patrols in Taiwan Strait
Chinese authorities is on high alert and prepared for any action posing a threat to China's sovereignty and territory, Beijing has declared after the EU’s top diplomat called for European navy patrols in the Taiwan Strait.
"I believe that our relevant departments are well-prepared," China's Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Zhu Fenglian declared at a Wednesday news conference in Beijing after the European Union’s Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell called for naval maneuvers along the Taiwan strait earlier in the week.
Borrell’s statement came in an opinion piece that appeared in the Sunday edition of French newspaper Le Journal Du Dimanche, urged European navies to conduct naval patrol along the Taiwan Strait in stark contradiction to France’s official declaration that it is opposed to the EU being caught up in an escalation of tensions between China and the US.
Borrell further wrote that the bloc's battleships should patrol the Taiwan Strait in a show of commitment to EU's presence in the region, far away from its own borders.
The top EU diplomat went on to insist that European governments must be "very present on this issue," arguing that developments in regard to the interests of the US and China also concerned the European continent "economically, commercially and technologically."
"Taiwan is clearly part of our geostrategic perimeter to guarantee peace," Borrell had also underlined in remarks at the European Parliament during a debate over China on Tuesday.
"It is not only for a moral reason that an action against Taiwan must necessarily be rejected. It is also because it would be, in economic terms, extremely serious for us, because Taiwan has a strategic role in the production of the most advanced semiconductors," Borrell claimed at the debate.
No reaction by officials from EU member states has yet been reported on Borrell’s provocative remarks towards China.
Meanwhile, Chinese authorities have repeatedly voiced their strong opposition to any sort of foreign military intervention in and around China.
For decades, China has maintained and promoted the internationally-recognized one-China principle. It regards Chinese Taipei as an inseparable part of its territory. If diplomatic channels fail to achieve China’s objective, Beijing has not ruled out the use of a military force to restore its sovereignty over the Chinese island.
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