Beijing’s ‘no mercy’ warning on Taiwan

China’s top military official has warned his country will show ‘absolutely no mercy’ to anyone supporting Taiwanese independence.

Chinese vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, Zhang Youxia, salutes as he attends the Xiangshan Forum in Beijing. Picture: AFP

China’s top military official has warned his country will show “absolutely no mercy” to anyone supporting Taiwanese independence, in a blunt statement issued weeks before a rare meeting ­between Xi Jinping and Joe Biden in America.

Zhang Youxia, second in the line of command after President Xi, issued the Taiwan threat in a keynote speech on Monday at Beijing’s Xiangshan Forum, a ­security meeting used by China to communicate its strategic goals to an international audience.

“No matter who tries to split Taiwan from China, the Chinese military will not allow that under any circumstances,” said General Zhang, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, China’s top military body. “(We) will show absolutely no mercy.”

Beijing’s official mouthpieces said the warning was intended as a “red line” ahead of a meeting in a fortnight in San Francisco between the US and Chinese leaders.

It will be only their second in-person meeting during Mr Biden’s three years as President, a period in which Mr Xi has drastically curtailed his international travel.

At the weekend in Washington, China’s Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, met Mr Biden and his top foreign policy and security officials, who raised concerns about “peace and stability” across the Taiwan Strait.

The three-day Chinese security forum has underscored the profound strategic differences that hang over the Australia-China relationship as Anthony Albanese sets off to Shanghai and Beijing this weekend.

Australia was represented at the Xiangshan Forum by an ­assistant secretary from Defence’s international policy division, according to a spokeswoman at the department.

The American delegation was led by a middle-ranking government US official after US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin declined an invitation to attend.

In an editorial, China’s most authoritative English-language newspaper, the China Daily, welcomed the American and Australian delegations.

“It is good to see that the US, along with some of its allies, has sent a delegation to the forum, and is taking the opportunity to seek dialogue with the Chinese and other sides,” the China Daily said.

In his address, General Zhang said China was “willing to develop military relations with the US based on mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win co-­operation”.

Throughout the forum, America was blamed – often using Communist Party euphemisms – by various Chinese speakers for stoking conflict around the world.

“Some countries, for fear that the world may stabilise, deliberately create turmoil, interfere in ­regional issues, interfere in other countries’ internal affairs and ­instigate colour revolutions,” General Zhang said.

“Behind the scenes, they hand out knives and think nothing of provoking people into wars, ­ensuring that they’re the ones who benefit from the chaos.”

The security dialogue was themed “Common Security, Lasting Peace”; however, some Chinese delegates spoke vividly about waging war on Taiwan, a self-governed democracy Beijing claims as part of its territory.

In an interview with party-state tabloid, the Global Times, Lieutenant General He Lei said Taiwan would be entirely responsible in the event of a Chinese attack.

“If the Chinese government is forced to use force to resolve the Taiwan question, it will be a war for reunification, a just and legitimate war supported and participated in by the Chinese people, and a war to crush foreign interference,” General He said.

In a later editorial, the Global Times said China’s “stern warning” was “by no means a ‘warlike statement’ but precisely a defence of peace”.

Beijing has ratcheted up its longstanding threats of war against Taiwan ahead of the island’s presidential elections in January.

The Chinese government hopes the threats will make Taiwanese voters wary of electing Vice-President William Lai, the favourite, who once described himself as “a pragmatic worker for Taiwan independence”.

Biden administration officials have meet Mr Lai repeatedly this year to seek assurances that, if elected, he would continue the cautious cross-Strait relations ­approach of current President Tsai Ing-wen.