Question: The G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting opened in Japan. The ministers agreed they oppose China’s unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force and reaffirmed the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. Do you have any response?

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson: There is but one China in the world, Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory, and the government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China. These are the core meaning of the one-China principle and the key to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. Relevant countries must recognize that the Taiwan question is China’s internal affair which brooks no external interference. Though the mainland and Taiwan have yet to reunify, they belong to one and the same China. Taiwan is part of China’s territory. China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity have never been divided. This is the true status quo in the Taiwan Strait. Taiwan’s return to China is an important component of the post-war international order. To uphold the one-China principle is to defend the post-war international order.

If one truly cares about the situation in the Taiwan Strait, one must first have a clear understanding of the root cause for the tensions there. As facts have proven once and again, a separatist agenda advanced at all costs by “Taiwan independence” elements in Taiwan with the support and connivance of foreign actors — this is what’s changing the status quo in the Taiwan Strait and the root cause of cross-Strait tensions. To maintain a stable situation across the Strait and safeguard peace and tranquility in the region, one must unequivocally uphold the one-China principle and oppose “Taiwan independence” separatist activities.

Those who say their one-China policy hasn’t changed, but wink at “Taiwan independence” separatists, overtly and covertly support them and even frame the opposition to such separatism as “changing the status quo” — they are not adhering to, but departing from the one-China policy and not defending, but endangering cross-Strait peace and stability. Their moves are irresponsible.