Update | Taiwan criticises Beijing diplomat over invasion threat
Envoy said at Chinese embassy event in Washington that China would attack Taiwan if a US Navy vessel docked at one of its ports
A threat by a senior mainland Chinese diplomat to invade Taiwan the instant any US warship visits the self-ruled island has sparked a war of words, with Taipei accusing Beijing of failing to understand what democracy means.
Mainland China considers Taiwan to be a wayward province and has never renounced the use of force to bring it under its control. The United States has no formal ties with Taiwan, but is bound by law to help it defend itself and is its main source of arms.
Beijing regularly calls Taiwan the most sensitive and important issue between it and the United States.
The US Congress passed the National Defence Authorisation Act for the 2018 financial year in September, which authorises mutual visits by navy vessels between Taiwan and the United States.
Diplomat Li Kexin said at a Chinese embassy event in Washington on Friday he had told US officials that China would activate its Anti-Secession Law, which allows it to use force on Taiwan if deemed necessary to prevent the island from seceding, if the United States sent navy ships to Taiwan.
“The day that a US Navy vessel arrives in Kaohsiung is the day that our People’s Liberation Army unifies Taiwan with military force,” mainland media quoted Li as saying at the weekend, referring to Taiwan’s main port.