PLA ready to ensure 'Taiwan independence' will never succeed
China DailyChinese Defense Minister Dong Jun said on Sunday in Singapore that the People's Liberation Army will take "timely, resolute and forceful actions" to ensure that the scheme of "Taiwan independence" will never succeed. "Taiwan is at the core of China's core interests, and the one-China principle has long been a universally recognized norm in international relations worldwide," he said. However, the minister stressed that the current question lies with Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party authorities, who are wantonly engaging in "incremental Taiwan independence" and stubbornly pushing for "de-sinicization," attempting to sever the social, historical, and cultural ties between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. "We have always been committed to peaceful reunification, but this prospect is being undermined by 'Taiwan independence' separatists and external forces, and the danger of national secession always exists," the senior official emphasized.