Increased 'defense' spending won't prevent inevitable failure, mainland spokeswoman warns

A Chinese mainland spokeswoman on Wednesday warned Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party authorities that no amount of increased "defense spending" or weapons purchases could change the inevitable failure of "Taiwan independence".

Zhu Fenglian, a spokeswoman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, made these remarks at a regular news conference in response to Taiwan leader Lai Ching-te's recent claim that Taiwan's "defense" budget will reach 5 percent of its GDP by 2030.

Zhu accused Lai's administration of stubbornly adhering to a separatist stance by pursuing "Taiwan independence" and advancing this agenda through force and reliance on external forces, thereby deliberately escalating tensions and confrontations across the Taiwan Strait. She described the DPP authorities as the culprits responsible for undermining peace and stability and disrupting the status quo in the Taiwan Strait.

"There is only one China in the world, and Taiwan is part of China," Zhu stated, emphasizing that this is the actual status quo in the Taiwan Strait.

Lai recently claimed that his responsibility is to ensure Taiwan is better prepared and more capable of maintaining the status quo and preventing peace from being undermined by unilateral provocations "in the face of profound changes in the international situation and the continued escalation of the threat posed by the mainland".

In response, Zhu criticized Lai's administration for advocating increased "defense" spending for their own political interests while using public funds to expand military capabilities.

"This runs counter to the mainstream public opinion in Taiwan and will only push Taiwan into greater danger," she warned, asserting that no matter how much they increase their budgets or how many weapons they purchase, they cannot alter the inevitable failure of "Taiwan independence" or halt the trend toward national reunification.