China urges caution over Taiwan issue

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The Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council on Wednesday urged relevant parties to act with caution so as not to cause damage to the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait.

"The Taiwan issue concerns China's sovereignty and territorial integrity and involves China's core interests. Our determination to uphold the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country is unwavering," said spokesperson Ma Xiaoguang at a news conference.

Ma made the remarks in response to recent media reports about the US Navy's plan to send warships to the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait in November for what was described as a "show of force".

Separatists will fail

"Any separatist attempt that relies on foreigners to build itself up, intensify antagonism, damage cross-Strait relations or change Taiwan's status is doomed to fail," Ma said, commenting on a speech by Taiwan's leader Tsai Ing-wen on October 10.

Ma Xiaoguang, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, speaks at a news conference, October 17, 2018, Beijing. /Photo via China Internet Information Center

He reiterated that the speech is fraught with the "two Chinas" separatist fallacy and confrontational thinking, and exposed the evil intentions to contain the mainland with the help of anti-China forces in the West.

"The hostile and provoking speech further proved that Taiwan's current Democratic Progressive Party authority is the creator of cross-Strait conflicts and the destroyer of peace and stability in the area," Ma said.

"The speech will only aggravate relations between the two sides and bring Taiwan to an even more perilous situation."

Ma stressed the "Chinese mainland and Taiwan belong to one China and Taiwan is part of China's territory, which are legal facts that cannot be changed by anyone or any forces."

Taiwan enterprises in CIIE

The first-ever China International Import Expo (CIIE) will take place from November 5 to 10 at Shanghai's National Exhibition and Convention Center, and preparation work is underway, introduced Ma.

He said the Chinese mainland welcomes Taiwan businesses and enterprises to participate in the expo.

So far, a total of 72 enterprises from Taiwan have registered to participate, distributed into five areas namely electronic engineering, intelligence, medical treatment, food and service, Ma elaborated.