China’s top general warns against supporting Taiwan
Military representatives gathered at the Xiangshan Forum in Beijing
China’s top general has warned that his country will show “absolutely no mercy” to anyone supporting Taiwanese independence and denounced the Americans for encouraging “colour revolutions”, while holding out the possibility of improved relations with the United States.
Zhang Youxia, second in the line of command after China’s president, Xi Jinping, was speaking at the Xiangshan Forum, a defence diplomacy gathering in Beijing. His speech should have been delivered by Li Shangfu, the defence minister, but he was sacked without explanation last week and no successor has so far been appointed.
“No matter who tries to split Taiwan from China, the Chinese military will not allow that under any circumstances,” said General Zhang, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, China’s top military body. “[We] will
