China says Taiwan, Ukraine issues not comparable

Amid fears that China could initiate military action in Taiwan on the lines of Russia's offensive in Ukraine, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday asserted that the Taiwan question differs in nature from the Ukraine issue and the two are not comparable.

"The biggest difference lies in the fact that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory and the Taiwan question is entirely China's internal affair while the Ukraine issue arose from contention between two countries, namely Russia and Ukraine," Wang said in his annual press conference on the side-lines of the Parliament session.

China views Taiwan, a self-ruled island, as a rebel province that must be reunified with the mainland, even by force.

Wang took a dig at the US saying that it is a blatant act of double standards that some people, while being vocal about the principle of sovereignty on the Ukraine issue, have kept undermining China's sovereignty and territorial integrity on the Taiwan question.

The current cross-Strait tension was caused by Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authority who denied the one-China principle and attempted to change the status quo that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one and the same China, he said, warning that these moves will ruin Taiwan's future.

He accused some forces in the United States of abetting the growth of separatist forces for "Taiwan independence" and tried to challenge and hollow out the one-China principle.

Such actions will not only push Taiwan into a precarious situation, but also bring unbearable consequences for the U.S. side.

The future of Taiwan lies in the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations and the country's reunification, rather than "empty promises" made by external forces, he said.

China had initiated aggressive military moves against Taiwan recently, causing concern in Washington.

"Seeking foreign support to gain dependence is a dead end. The scheme to use Taiwan to contain China is doomed to fail," Wang said.

In Taipei on Monday, Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu meanwhile said the island was closely watching events in Ukraine.

Comparing the situation in Ukraine with that in Taiwan, he said Russia was seeking to expand its authoritarianism in Europe, while Chinese President Xi Jinping's ambition was to rejuvenate the nation and build up its military.

That is a situation we need to watch carefully, Wu said.

He added that he was concerned about Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin forming a no limits strategic partnership in February.

So as we watch what is happening in Ukraine, we care and we want to help, Wu said. But at the same time we are watching carefully to see what China may do to Taiwan, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.

He said there was a danger that the Chinese leadership could see the Western response to Russia's military aggression as weak and not coherent and that it is not having any impact.

The Chinese might take that as a cue for possible action from them [on Taiwan]. But so far we see the Western countries, like-minded countries, are working together in unison, he said.