A retired army general has warned that China will not leave the Taiwan problem “unresolved for a long time,” China state-run Global Times said.
Liu Jingsong (劉精松) told the annual conference of the Global Times newspaper that the Chinese government would not be afraid to use force to resolve “the Taiwan issue,” the paper reported on its Web site on Saturday, without specifying further.
“The Taiwan issue will not remain unresolved for a long time. We will not abandon the possibility of using force; according to the law, it is also an option to resolve the issue by military means if necessary,” said Liu, a former president of the influential Chinese Academy of Military Sciences.
He retired from active service with the People’s Liberation Army in 1997.
“Whoever has political power in Taiwan, the only path [for Taiwan] is to preserve the development of peaceful relations between the two sides of the strait and eventually to bring about reunification,” the general said.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) was dealt a crushing blow when it lost five out of the six special municipalities in Nov. 29 elections, prompting the premier to resign and President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to step down as KMT chairman.
The KMT’s move to forge warmer ties with Beijing, and its perceived secrecy in forging deals with China, was one of the core issues at stake in polls seen as foreshadowing the 2016 presidential race.
In face of the recent shakeup in Taiwan’s political landscape, China “should not fear the storm” and has formed “new judgements and countermeasures,” the Global Times paraphrased Liu as saying.
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