China Warns Taiwan of Crossing 'Red Line'

A Chinese government spokesperson on Wednesday threatened "decisive measures" should neighboring Taiwan cross Beijing's "red line."

Newsweek reached out to Taiwan's de facto embassy in the U.S. by email for comment.

Why It Matters

The government of Taiwan, officially the Republic of China, fled to the island after its defeat on the Chinese mainland by Mao Zedong's communist forces in 1949. Taiwan functions as a sovereign state with its own democratic system of government, military and diplomatic relations.

However, Taiwan has never officially declared its independence—a move that China has warned it would go to war over. China has vowed that unification is inevitable, through force if necessary, and in recent years has stepped up military activities around the island to pressure its Beijing-skeptic ruling government.

What To Know

A working paper released on March 5, as the Chinese Communist Party opened its annual rubber-stamp congress, declared that China would "be firm in advancing the cause of China reunification."

The term "peaceful reunification" included in past reports was notably missing.

In response to a reporter's question about whether the omission reflected an official change in position, Chen Binhua, spokesperson for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said "peaceful reunification" and "One Country, Two Systems" remain the best means of bringing Taiwan into the fold.

The "One Country, Two Systems" was developed for Hong Kong by China and the United Kingdom prior to that city's 1997 handover after decades of British rule.

"If 'Taiwan independence' separatist forces provoke, coerce, or challenge the bottom line and cross red lines, we will be forced to take decisive measures," Cheng said, according to state media.

Under the framework, Hong Kong was promised a large degree of legal and economic autonomy—a commitment Beijing was accused of reneging on through its crackdown on democracy and adoption of the draconian National Security Law in 2020.

These developments raised alarm bells in Taiwan, for which China has continued to propose a similar model of unification.

What People Are Saying

Taiwan's Foreign Ministry, in a statement on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday: "China's so called 'reunification' claims have no basis in reality. Taiwan is a sovereign democracy never ruled by the People's Republic of China. Our future rests solely with our 23 million people—this is the Taiwan Strait's true status quo and a principle recognized by all."

What Happens Next

Amid China's rapid military buildup, the country has ramped up sorties in the Taiwan Strait and staged simulated blockades around its neighbor. This has driven the island to increase defense spending in recent years and extend compulsive military service to one year from four months.

U.S. Navy Admiral Samuel Paparo, former head of the Indo-Pacific Command, in February said these maneuvers are not drills but "rehearsals for the forced unification of Taiwan to the mainland.