Xinhua Commentary: A new warning to Taiwan separatists and their supporters

BEIJING, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday sent the latest stern warning to Taiwan separatists and their supporters.

"Those who forget their heritage, betray their motherland, and seek to split the country will come to no good end; they will be disdained by the people and condemned by history," Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, said in Beijing at a meeting marking the 110th anniversary of the Revolution of 1911.

The new warning was issued on a proper occasion, as the 1911 Revolution served as a watershed historic event for compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, a milestone on the journey of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

The message that the Chinese leadership wants to drive home on such a special occasion is crystal clear: those who fantasized about counting on foreign intervention to inflate themselves and provoke the Chinese mainland in an attempt at "Taiwan independence" are doomed to fail and will only bring disaster to compatriots on the island.

Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory. The Taiwan question, which arose out of the weakness and chaos of the Chinese nation, is purely an internal matter for China, one which brooks no external interference. No one should underestimate the Chinese people's strong will, determination, and ability to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The Taiwan question concerns China's core interests, over which there is no room for compromise.

External forces should respect China's sovereignty, security and development interests, abide by the one-China principle, and stop using Taiwan-related issues to interfere in China's internal affairs.

In reassuring words, Xi also reiterated the adherence to the basic policy of peaceful reunification and "one country, two systems," as well as the one-China principle and the 1992 Consensus, and the promotion of the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations.

It must be understood that the Chinese mainland is not the aggressor, as has been painted in some Western narratives. The troublemakers are Taiwan separatists and their supporters, who have been stoking tensions.

Xi urged compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to stand on the right side of history and join hands to achieve China's complete reunification and the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

The compatriots in Taiwan should recognize the dangers of "Taiwan independence" and the tricks of external forces, work together to eradicate the scourge of "Taiwan independence", stop the interference of external forces, and safeguard the sovereignty, security and development interests of the motherland.

Just as Xi said on Saturday: "National reunification by peaceful means best serves the interests of the Chinese nation as a whole, including compatriots in Taiwan."