On April 3, Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in Sydney H.E. Zhou Limin published an article titled “Any Move toward Tawan Independence Will Jeopardize Peace and Stability across the Taiwan Straits” on local newspaper Australian Chinese Daily. The full text is as follows:
On March 29, leader of the Taiwan authorities Tsai Ing-wen made a "transit" to the United States and delivered a public speech. Earlier, the Taiwan authorities and the US announced that Tsai would "transit" the US twice and stay in the US for up to four days, during which he would meet with US speaker of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy, Chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan, officials of the US State Department and members of the Congress, and make two public speeches. The trip is not so much a “transit”, but an attempt to seek US support and propagate “Taiwan independence”. It fully exposes the political scheme of the US and Taiwan Authorities to carry out official exchanges and upgrade substantive relations.
What the US has done gravely violates the One China principle and the three historical joint communiques between China and US, seriously undermines China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, sends a seriously wrong signal to the "Taiwan independence" forces, and seriously challenges the One China consensus of the international community. Past mistakes do not justify any new mistake. Repeating a mistake does not make it legitimate. China has always been firmly opposed to any form of official exchanges between the US and the Taiwan authorities, resolutely opposed to "Taiwan independence" separatist leaders visiting the US under any name and for any reason, and firmly opposed to any form of official contact between the US government and the Taiwan authorities.
In the three China-Us joint communiques, the United States explicitly acknowledged that the government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government of China, that the United States only has non-official relations with Taiwan, that it does not seek long-term arms sales to Taiwan, and that it will gradually reduce arms sales to Taiwan. President Biden has solemnly pledged to China on many occasions that the United States adheres to the One China policy and does not support "Taiwan independence" ,"two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan", nor does it seek to use Taiwan as a tool to contain China. But the US clearly says one thing and does another.
President Xi Jinping clearly pointed out to President Joe Biden in Bali last November that the Taiwan question is at the very core of China's core interests, the fundamental of the political foundation of China-US relations, and the first red line that must not be crossed in this relationship. China firmly opposes US’s collusion with Taiwan and its violation of the One China principle, including conducting official exchanges with the Taiwan authorities by allowing Tsai "transit" and conniving and supporting separatist activities for "Taiwan independence".
There is only one China in the world, Taiwan is part of China, and the government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China. This is the true status quo across the Taiwan Straits. Although the two sides of the Taiwan Straits have not been fully reunified, China's sovereignty and territorial integrity have never been divided, and the fact that both the mainland and Taiwan belong to one and the same China has never changed and cannot be changed. The Tsai Ing-wen administration relies on the US to seek independence, refuses to recognize the 1992 Consensus and stubbornly pushes for "gradual Taiwan independence". The US government uses Taiwan as a tool to contain China, intensifies its liaison with the Taiwan authorities, and connives and supports the separatist forces for "Taiwan independence". These are the actions that will truly change the status quo across the Taiwan Strait.
"Peaceful reunification" and "one country, two systems" are China's fundamental policy for the settlement of the Taiwan question. No one cares more about the well-being of the Taiwan compatriots than the Chinese people, and no one wants to see peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits and is committed to it all the time more than the Chinese people. The Chinese government will continue to strive for the prospect of peaceful reunification with utmost sincerity and efforts. But "Taiwan independence" is by no means compatible with peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits. Tsai Ing-wen and other "Taiwan independence" separatist forces have abandoned the 1992 Consensus on the One China principle, and have been constantly making provocations by seeking "Taiwan independence" with support of the external forces, which have undermined the foundation for the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations.
In response to the interference of external forces and the very small number of "Taiwan independence" separatists and their activities, China reserves the option of taking all necessary measures and does not promise to renounce the use of force. Once the "Taiwan independence" separatist forces and their activities cross the line stipulated in the Anti-Secession Law, the Chinese government will firmly take legal actions to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The One China principle is the consensus of the international community and the political foundation of China-Australia relations. China has no room for compromise or concession on the Taiwan question. China respects Australia's sovereignty and territorial integrity and has never interfered in Australia's internal affairs. We also hope that Australia will respect China's core interests and major concerns, pursue an independent foreign policy, abide by the One China principle, be cautious in words and actions on Taiwan-related issues, and not send wrong signals in any way to avoid damaging bilateral relations and public support in both countries.