(20 May 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Beijing – 20 May 2024
1. Wide of news conference
2. Wide of reporters
3. SOUNDBITE (Mandarin) Wang Wenbin, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson:
“Taiwan independence is a dead-end. No matter under what name or excuse, pushing for Tawain independence is doomed to fail.”
4. Mid of reporters
5. SOUNDBITE (Mandarin) Wang Wenbin, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson:
“This kind of retrogressive act is not only challenging China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity but also international justice and conscience and the post-war international order. It is both absurd and dangerous.”
6. Wide of reporters
7. SOUNDBITE (Mandarin) Wang Wenbin, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson:
“China will and must achieve reunification. This is the trend of the times that will not be stopped by anyone or any force. We want to tell those in the U.S. that the trend of the times is surging forward and those who follow it will prosper, and those who go against it will perish. Challenging the one-China principle will ultimately be engulfed by this trend, and turning back the wheel of history will only lead to a fall into the abyss of history.”
8. Wide of reporters
9. SOUNDBITE (Mandarin) Wang Wenbin, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson:
“China has indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands (Spratly Islands), including Zhongye Island (Thitu Island), and their adjacent waters. The Philippine side has illegally occupied China’s Zhongye Island and frequently carried out activities in the waters near the island. If there are environmental problems in the relevant waters, the Philippine side should first reflect on itself, instead of blaming China for no reason.”
10. Wide of news conference
STORYLINE:
China’s Foreign Ministry warned that Taiwan independence was a “dead-end” on the day of the presidential inauguration of the self-ruled island on Monday.
“No matter under what name or excuse, pushing for Tawain independence is doomed to fail,” the ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin reiterated at a daily news briefing when asked about the inaugural speech by President Lai Ching-te.
In his speech earlier in the day, Lai said China and Taiwan “are not subordinate to each other” and urged Beijing to stop its military threats and intimidation.
Lai vowed to continue his predecessor’s push to maintain stability with China while beefing up Taiwan’s security through imports of military equipment from close partner the U.S.
Wang also criticized the U.S. for its what he called “distortion” of UN General Assembly Resolution 2857 which endorses Beijing’s seat at the UN.
“This kind of retrogressive act is not only challenging China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity but also international justice and conscience and the post-war international order. It is both absurd and dangerous,” Wang argued.
The resolution only addressed the issue of China’s representation in the UN but did not determine Taiwan’s status or prohibit Taiwan’s participation in UN agencies, a group of U.S. senators said in their letter to WHO Director Tedros last week appealing for Taiwan’s participation in the upcoming World Health Assembly.
Portraying China’s reunification as the “trend of the times,” Wang warned that “those who follow it will prosper, and those who go against it will perish.”
China has stepped up its military pressure and diplomatic isolation against Taiwan in recent years, sending fighter jets and navy vessels toward the island on a near-daily basis.
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