Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned this Thursday that “whoever supports Taiwan’s ‘independence’ will end up burned for playing with fire,” and reiterated that the island “is part of China.” “Those who support Taiwan independence will end up burned for playing with fire. The ‘one China’ principle is the general consensus of the international community, and supporting its ‘independence’ cannot be tolerated because that is challenging China’s sovereignty,” Wang said today during a press conference in the framework of of the National People’s Congress (ANP), which is being held this week in the Chinese capital.

Wang reiterated that Beijing will not allow Taiwan to separate and stressed that the last elections on the island They were “local elections” held “in a part of China.” “The outcome of those elections does not change in the slightest the basic fact that Taiwan is part of China, nor does it alter the historical trend of Taiwan’s return,” he said.

The minister highlighted the support of more than 180 countries and international organizations for the ‘one China’ principle, and stressed that those who promote Taiwan independence “challenge” Chinese sovereignty. Likewise, Wang warned that “separatist activities” in favor of Taiwan independence are “the most destructive elements for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.”

“We will continue to strive for peace and reunification with the utmost sincerity. However, we make it clear that “We will never allow Taiwan to separate.”, he sentenced. The minister called on all Chinese descendants to support peaceful reunification and oppose the island’s independence, highlighting the historical ties between the inhabitants of both sides of the strait.

During the opening of the ANP this Tuesday, the most important political event of the year in the Asian giant, Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang noted that China “will resolutely oppose” to “any secessionist activity aimed at ‘Taiwan independence'”, as well as “interference by external forces” on the island.

Taipei insisted that it is not “subordinate” to China, after Li stated that Beijing will continue defending the “firm and unchanging great cause of reunification” with the island. Taiwan – where Chiang Kai-shek’s nationalist army retreated after losing the war with the communists – has been governed autonomously since 1949, although China claims sovereignty over the island, which it considers a rebel province whose “reunification” “has not ruled out the use of force.