China Signals It Will Keep Up Pressure on Taiwan After Drills

• China indicated it will maintain pressure on Taiwan following its large-scale military drills, a sign that tensions over the democracy’s status will linger.
• “We will not leave any room for any form of Taiwan separatist activities,” Zhu Fenglian, spokeswoman for the Taiwan Affairs Office in Beijing, said on 12 Apr at the first regular press briefing since the People’s Liberation Army held three days of military exercises around Taiwan.
• Zhu reiterated the drills were a stern warning to both people in Taiwan advocating independence and “foreign interference.” “We will take resolute measures to foil any external intervention and separatist behavior, and safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” she said.
• Zhu accused Taiwan’s independence-leaning, ruling Democratic Progressive Party of cooperating with the US’s attempts to decouple from the world’s second-largest economy, and of stepping up efforts to “woo and infiltrate” Congress.
• Zhu said those activities would only bring disaster to the people of Taiwan, which China has pledged to bring under its control and the government in Taipei says deserves more recognition internationally.

External Link : https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-12/china-signals-it-will-keep-up-pressure-on-taiwan-after-drills